Pronunciation respelling for English

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Many dictionaries and other language references give pronunciation guides for some or all words listed. Most British English dictionaries now use the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) for these, and represent Received Pronunciation (RP). However some British, and most American volumes, use respelling systems, which may be more intuitive for readers unfamiliar with IPA, and which may allow for a symbol to be interpreted differently by readers of different dialects.

Contents

[edit] Traditional respelling systems

The following chart matches the IPA symbols used to represent the sounds in the English language with the phonetic symbols used in several dictionaries and reference materials. The respelling systems on this page are mostly for American English, so the IPA symbols are those for the General American accent. This chart is not a comprehensive list of symbols found in pronunciation guides, and it is not a guide to the pronunciation systems found in these works; you will need to consult the individual works to learn the idiosyncratic conventions of each system.

The works referenced above adhere (for the most part) to the one-symbol-per-sound principle. Other works not included here, such as Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language (unabridged, 2nd ed.), do not and thus have several different symbols for the same sound (partly to allow for different phonemic mergers and splits).

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Consonants1
IPA K&K NOAD A NOAD AHD RHD WBO MECD DPL DPN NBC MWCD MWO COD7 Cham AB examples
tʃ tʃ tʃ č CH ch c​͡h ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch church
h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h h hh hat
hw2 hw (h)w hw (h)w hw hw hw hw hw hw   (h)w – which
dʒ dʒ dʒ ǯ j j j j j j j j j j j j jh judge
x x x x KH KH K​͡H kh - - - - k [k] (χ) hh - loch (Scottish), Buch (German)
ɬ ɬ – ł - - - - - - - - - - - hl - llan (Welsh)
ŋ ŋ ŋ ŋ NG ng n​͡g ng ng ŋ ng ng ŋ [ng] ng ng ng thing
ɹ3 r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r roar
ʃ ʃ ʃ š SH sh s​͡h sh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh sh ship, dish, ration
θ θ θ θ θ th t​͡h th th th th th th th th th th thin, thigh, beneath
ð ð ð ð ð th th̸ th th th t̷h th: th [th] dh dh dh this, thy
j j j y y y y y y y y y y y y y y yes
ʒ ʒ ʒ ž ZH zh z​͡h zh zh zh zh zh zh zh zh zh zh vision, pleasure
Vowels
IPA K&K NOAD A NOAD AHD RHD WBO MECD DPL DPN NBC MWCD MWO COD7 Cham AB examples
æ æ ø æ a ă a a a a a a a a ă a ae pat, lad, cat, ran
e(ɪ) e eɪ e(y) ā ā ā ay ay ā ay ay ā A ā ā ey pay, day
ɛɹ ɛr ɛ(ə)r εr e(ə)r âr âr air air air ar ar ār ār eh r care, hair, there
ɑ ɑ ɑ a ä ä ä ah aa ä aw, o ah ä, ȧ ä, [a'] ah ä aa father, palm
ɑɹ ɑr ɑr ar är är är ahr aar är ahr är är a​͡r är aa r arm
ɛ ɛ ɛ ε e ĕ e eh e e ɛ e e e ě e eh let, head
i i i i(y) ē ē ē ee ee ē ē ee ē E ē ē iy bee, see
ɪ4 ɪ ɪ ι i ĭ i ih i i i i i i ǐ i ih pit, city
aɪ aɪ aɪ ay ī ī ī y ī ī y igh ī I ī ī ay pie, by, my
ɪɹ ɪr ɪ(ə)r ιr i(ə)r îr ēr ihr eer ir ir ē​r īr ih r pier, near, here
ɒ ɑ ɑ a ä ŏ o o o ä o ah ä ä ǒ o aa pot, not, wasp
o(ʊ) o oʊ o(w) ō ō ō oh ō ō ō oh ō O ō ō ow toe, no
ɔ ɔ ɔ ɔ ô ô ô aw aw ô aw, o aw ȯ o aw ö ao caught, paw, war
ɔɪ ɔɪ ɔɪ ɔy oi oi oi oy oy oi oy oi ȯi oi oi oi oy noise, boy
ʊ4 ᴜ ʊ ᴜ o͝o o͝o o͝o u o͝o oo u oo u̇ u ǒǒ ŭ5 uh took, put
ʊɹ ᴜr ʊ(ə)r ᴜr o͝or o͝or o͝or ur oor u̇r ur oor oor uh r tour
u u u u(w) o͞o o͞o o͞o oo oo o͞o ū oo: ü ü ōō oo5 uw boot, soon, through
aʊ aᴜ aʊ aw ou ou ou ow ow ou ow ow au̇ au ow ow aw out, now
ʌ ʌ ə ʌ ə ŭ u uh u u ʋ UH ə & ǔ u ah cut, run, enough
ɝ ɝ ər ər ər ûr ûr ur ur ʉr er ER ər &r e͡r ûr er urge, term, firm, word, heard, bird
ə ə ə ə ə ə ə uh ə ə e uh ə &, & a, e, i, o, u ə ah about, item, edible, gallop, circus
ɚ ɚ ər ər ər ər ər uhr ər ər er er ər &r er ər er butter, winner
ju ju ju yu yo͞o yo͞o yo͞o yoo yoo yo͞o yū yoo: yü yü ū ū y uw pupil
IPA K&K NOAD A NOAD AHD RHD WBO MECD DPL DPN NBC MWCD MWO COD7 Cham AB examples

[edit] Notes

  1. The following symbols have their IPA values in all the systems listed: b, d, f, g, k, l, m, n, p, s, t, v, w, z.
  2. The IPA symbol [ʍ] is sometimes encountered in place of [hw].
  3. The IPA symbol [ɹ] is usually written as [r] in English works.
  4. The older IPA symbols (ι, ɷ) are sometimes encountered for [ɪ] and [ʊ], respectively.
  5. Older editions of The Chambers Dictionary used o͞o for ŭ and o͞o for oo. The latest, 21st Century Edition, uses the IPA.
  6. Nasalized vowel, as in the French phrase un bon vin blanc (IPA: [œ̃ bɔ̃ vã blɑ̃]).
  7. Older editions of the Concise Oxford Dictionary used a mix of two systems: the "phonetic scheme" shown in the table above and a system "without respelling". The latter added diacritics to conventional spellings and accepted the following orthographic conventions:
COD variant IPA
ph [f]
kn (initial) [n]
wr (initial) [ɹ]
g, dg [dʒ] (before e, i, y)
[g] otherwise
c [s] (before e, i, y)
[k] otherwsie
ai, ay [eɪ]
air [ɛɹ]
ae, ea, ee, ie [i]
ė, ie (final), ey [ɪ]
ear, eer, ier [ɪɹ]
aw [ɔ]
oy [ɔɪ]
ou [aʊ]
i͡r, u͡r [ɝ]
eu, ew [ju]

[edit] Title abbreviations

[edit] International Phonetic Alphabet

The International Phonetic Alphabet is a standardized method of phonetic transcription developed by a group of English and French language teachers in 1888. In the beginning, only specialized pronunciation dictionaries for linguists used it, for example, the English Pronouncing Dictionary edited by Daniel Jones (EPD, 1917). The IPA was used by English teachers as well, and started to appear in popular dictionaries for learners of English as a foreign language, such as the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (1948), and Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (1978).

IPA is very flexible, allowing for a wide variety of transcriptions between broad phonemic transcriptions which describe the significant units of meaning in language, and phonetic transcriptions which indicate every nuance sound in detail.

The IPA pronunciation scheme used in the first twelve editions of the EPD was relatively simple, using a quantitative system indicating vowel length using a colon, and requiring the reader to infer other vowel qualities. Many phoneticians preferred a qualitative system, which used different symbols to indicate vowel timbre and colour. A.C. Gimson introduced a quantitative-qualitative IPA notation system when he took over editorship of the EPD (13th edition, 1967), and by the 1990s, the Gimson system had become a de facto standard for phonetic notation of British Received Pronunciation (RP).


Comparison of short and long vowels in various IPA schemes for RP
word quant. qual. Gimson
rid rid rɪd rɪd
reed ri:d rid ri:d
cod kɔd kɒd kɒd
cord kɔ:d kɔd kɔ:d

The first native (not learner's) English dictionary using IPA may have been the Collins English Dictionary (1979), and others followed suit. The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition (OED2, 1989) used IPA, transcribed letter-for-letter from entries in the first edition, which had been noted in a scheme by the original editor, James Murray.

While IPA has not been adopted by popular dictionaries in the United States, there is a demand for learner's dictionaries which provide both British and American English pronunciation. Some dictionaries, such as the Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary and the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English provide a separate transcription for each.

British and American English dialects have a similar set of phonemes, but some are pronounced differently; in technical parlance, they consist of different phones. Although developed for RP, the Gimson system being phonemic, it is not far from much of General American pronunciation as well. A number of recent dictionaries, such as the Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary, add a few non-phonemic symbols /r i u əl ən/ to represent both RP and General American pronunciation in a single IPA transcription.


Adaptations of the Gimson system for American English
/ɒ/ Pronounced [ɑ:] in General American.
/e/ In American English falls between [e] and [æ] (sometimes transcribed /ɛ/)
/əu/ This traditional transcription is probably more accurately replaced today by /ou/ in both British and American English
/r/ Regular r is always pronounced
/r/ Superscript r is only pronounced in rhotic dialects, such as General American, or when followed by a vowel (for example adding a suffix to change dear into dearest)
/i/ Medium i can be pronounced [ɪ] or [i:], depending on the dialect
/ɔ:/ Many Americans pronounce /ɔ:/ the same as /ɒ/ ([ɑ:])
/əl/ Syllabic l, sometimes transcribed /l/ or /əl/
/ən/ Syllabic n, sometimes transcribed /n/ or /ən/

Clive Upton updated the Gimson scheme, changing the symbols used for five vowels. He served as pronunciation consultant for the influential Concise Oxford English Dictionary, which adopted this scheme in its ninth edition (1995). Upton's reform is controversial: it reflects changing pronunciation, but critics say it represents a narrower regional accent, and abandons parallelism with American and Australian English.

Upton's reform
word Gimson Upton
bet bet bɛt
bat bæt bat
nurse nɜ:s nə:s
square skweə skwɛ:
price praɪs prʌɪs

The in-progress 3rd edition of the Oxford English Dictionary uses Upton's scheme for representing British pronunciations. For American pronunciations it uses an IPA-based scheme devised by Prof. William Kretzschmar of the University of Georgia.

[edit] References

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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