Pronunciation Dictionary

Actually every dictionary must have adequate information or explanation about how the words or entries are spoken. Usually in chapters that deal with pronunciation, the authors of the dictionary have provided a list of symbols to help English learners produce the sounds of English words contained in the dictionary. These symbols are called International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) or simply called Phonetic Symbols. These symbols were first introduced or developed by French and English teachers, led by Paul Passy, in 1886. When students of English language want to know the pronunciation of a terminology in a dictionary, they can refer to the IPA symbols. Even though there are no native English teachers around, they can still speak the word correctly. But they have to study and understand the symbols first. When you buy a dictionary, make sure that every entry word is embedded with its phonetic symbols. You don't find the international phonetic symbols and description on how to pronounce them, please, don't buy the dictionary. In the folder of the English books which I provide in this website, I recommend two dictionaries for students of English at intermediate up to advanced levels. They are Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary and LONGMAN Dictionary of Contemporary English. If you find dictionaries that are published by American publishers, you will see that the International Phonetic Symbols have been modified or respelled to help readers of English be more comfortable with the pronunciation of words in the dictionaries. One of American Dictionary that use respelled phonetic symbols is Merriam Webster. Another English dictionary called Chambers Concise Usage Dictionary published by W&R Chambers Ltd.. This dictionary has numerous phrases and sentences illustrating usage and has two pages of explanation about the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet ((IPA) which they call Pronunciation Guide. The IPA symbols are listed in tables with examples of pronunciation of the relevant English words. For examples:

Variation in pronunciations

Sometimes while finding words in the dictionary, we will see entries that have two or more common pronunciations. The British and the American may have different pronunciations for a word but it does not mean that they speak different languages. Both of them speak English but have different accents on various words and terminologies. Even in British English alone, one word may have more than one pronunciations. When we see two different phonetic symbols which represent the pronunciation of an entry, it does not mean that one symbol is right and the other is wrong.

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Pronunciation