User:Nohat/sandbox
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The diphthong [oʊ] is to be interpreted as [əʊ] in RP (thus no and know would be transcribed as [noʊ], which means [nəʊ] in RP and [noʊ] in GenAm).
A dot [.] means a syllable boundary: for example, windy ['wɪn.di] (two syllables: ['wɪn-] and [-di]); the dot may be omitted where a stress mark, [ˈ or ˌ], occurs: thus [æbˈdoʊm.ən] (one pronunciation of abdomen) has three syllables, the first being [æb-]. It should also be noticed that "the question of syllabification in English is controversial: different phoneticians hold very different views about it" (John C. Wells): for instance, some dictionaries, such as The American Heritage Dictionary, give for cousin a syllabification ['kʌz.ɪn], while others, such as Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, give ['kʌ.zɪn].
[edit] A
- abdomen - (1) [æbˈdoʊm.ən], (2) [ˈæbd.əm.ən].
The controversy is mainly about the position of the stress: (1) (with the stress on the second syllable) is the etymologically regular pronunciation (for this is a latinism of the medical science, and in Latin abdomen, with a long -o-, is pronounced with the stress on the penultimate syllable, -do-). Though (2) (with the stress on the first syllable) seems to be more common on the whole, and is therefore recorded in the first place by LPD and other authorities, in EEPD we find this interesting note: [-ˈdoʊm-] “is the form generally used by members of the medical profession”. (With both (1) and (2), the word may also end in [-ɪn] or [-en].)
