Phonetic alphabet(s)

Given that English is a language written in a broadly phonetic script which is quite bad at representing sounds (see phonetic), it is necessary for those who write dictionaries (and teachers of the language) to be able to write down the sounds more accurately. It would be welcome to students and others if there could be an easy way of doing it.

Alas, this will not happen. Most dictionaries have their own systems. Increasingly these are based on the IPA - but each introduces its own variations. If you consult a dictionary regularly - especially if you are using English as a second language - you should learn that dictionary's system of representing sounds carefully.

If you use more than one dictionary, be aware that they probably use different systems. One dictionary may use a symbol to mean a particular sound, while another dictionary may use the same symbol to mean a different sound. This can be very confusing.

This Guide has two systems, hoping to improve its usefulness. First, AWE uses the IPA in a broad phonemic version of RP in the predominat idiolect of its writers. This is a technical way of saying that we try to write down the way in which we speak in such a way that those who know the IPA can learn the standard British educated way of pronouncing the word we are describing. (For a brief description, see pronunciation in this Guide.)

Not everyone knows the IPA of course. Probably only a very small minority of native English speakers knows it. So the second system in this Guide is a rough and ready 're-spelling' way of indicating how a word is said. It is not systematic. There are no rules. In each instance, we try to show native speakers how to speak the word under consideration, by referring to common words. As far as possible, the 'scientific' indication of pronunciation is in IPA. But for a rule-of-thumb guidance as to how to say a word, the re-spelling should be helpful at any rate to native speakers.