Wikspeak

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

WikSpeak


Developed by	Marcos Daniel Martinez.
OS	Linux and Windows (95/98/NT/2000/XP).
Genre	Computer Aided Instruction.
License	GNU General Public License.
Website	http://wikspeak.sourceforge.net

WikSpeak (pronounced /ˈwɪkspiːk/) is a tool that allows non-native English speakers to analyze the correlation between the pronunciation and spelling of English words. This program is a simple and fast graphic interface which can retrieve either the phonetic transcription (IPA) or the pronunciation of any English word, while avoiding the annoying process of browsing dictionaries.

1 Introduction
2 Features
3 IPA Overview
4 References

[edit] Introduction

The ability to identify phonemes is key to accurate comprehension and good pronunciation of a language. In school, children learn to associate letters and sounds by slowly pronouncing each phoneme composing a word. The English language has an alphabet consisting of 26 letters, but these letters can be combined to produce 44 distinct phonemes. The unfamiliar sounds of phonemes not found in other languages often result in confusion and frustration for the non-native English speaker. Dictionaries found on the web provide learners with word pronunciations spoken at a natural pace; however, they don't provide the opportunity for the listener to conveniently identify individual phonemes composing a word. WikSpeak is a program created to fill this void for English language learning.

[edit] Features

The program requires an Internet connection.
Phonetic transcriptions are retrieved from Word Reference
Pronunciations are retrieved from the Learner's Dictionary of Merriam Webster's
IPA Chart simplified for English with sound included in the program.
A mimimal level of familiarity with the IPA will enhance users' experience with the program but it is not required.

[edit] IPA Overview

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is the international standard for phonetic transcription. It is an alphabet where each symbol represents a phoneme, allowing one to represent the sounds of words from any language. Phonetic transcriptions using the IPA are popular on Internet, and they are used by several online dictionaries including Wiktionary. The IPA has the capability to represent many phonemes above and beyond those which appear in the English language. A simplified version of the IPA Chart limits the listed phonemes to just those used in English. That version of the chart is called IPA Chart for English ^[1] . Native English speakers can easily decipher the IPA symbols which represent English phonemes if they have a cross-reference between IPA symbols and familiar English words in written form ^[1]. However, non-native English speakers may not recognize the phonemes composing an English word simply by referencing text examples. A more useful tool for a non-native speaker is a key which presents the relationship between the IPA symbols and sample words in an audio format, such as in this IPA Chart for Received Pronunciation ^[2]