Date: Fri, 16 Dec 1994 04:17:00 EDT

From: "David A. Johns" DJOHNS[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UFPINE.BITNET

Subject: Re: /biyl/



# What sound does [[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]] represent? Is it a schwa? Can this be found

# in some sort of FAQ?



Yes, it's schwa. I'm following a transcription scheme posted to the

usenet group sci.lang by Evan Kirshenbaum. I'll append it below

(actually, it's a pretty old version, and may have been updated some

by now).



# Also, I wonder if the southeast Georgian accent can in any way

# have been influenced by the Cajuns or Acadiens of Louisiana?



Not that I know of. There are very few French names around here.



David Johns

Waycross College

Waycross, GA



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Article 18559 of sci.lang:

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From: evan[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]hpl.hp.com (Evan Kirshenbaum)

Newsgroups: sci.lang,alt.usag.english

Subject: Summary of IPA/ASCII transcription for English

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To aid English speakers in using the phonetic transcription, this

document describes the mapping onto a standard American dictionary

transcription system for sounds that commonly occur in the English

language. When it differs from the symbol used, I've also included a

description of the IPA symbol for the benefit of non-Americans.



The table is taken from the 'Pronunciation Symbols' page of

Merriam-Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary. In the examples, the

letters which spell the sound are bracketed by ' ... '.



Note that this only describes a small subset of the transcription

system. There are far more sounds (used in other languages) and

nuances of sound that can be captured. See the document describing

the full standard for complete details.





Phonemic (broad) transcriptions are bracketed by '/.../'. Phonetic

(narrow) transcriptions are bracketed by '[...]'. Syllables that

carry primary stress are preceded by "'". Syllables that carry

secondary stress are preceded by ",". When giving the transcription

of a single word, spaces are generally inserted between syllables

(often omitted before syllables that have stress marks). When giving

the transcription of a multi-word utterance, it is common to put

spaces between words and omit them between syllables.





/[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]/: schwa (upside-down 'e').

Used in both unaccented ('b a nan a ', 'c o llide', ' a but'),

and accented ('h u mdr u m', 'ab u t') contexts.



The IPA symbol is a schwa.



[British speakers often have different vowels in these two

contexts. The accented one is further back and is written /V/.

Its IPA symbol is a 'wedge' or upside-down 'v'.]



/l-/, /n-/, /m-/, /N-/:

Superscript schwa preceding consonant.

As in 'batt le ', 'mitt en ', 'eat en '. Signifies that the

consonant is pronounced as a syllable by itself.



The IPA symbol is a vertical bar below the consonant.



/R/: shwa followed by 'r'.

'op er ation', 'f ur th er ', ' ur g er '.



The IPA symbol is a schwa with a hook.



/&/: short a.

'm a t', 'm a p', 'm a d', 'g a g, 'sn a p', 'p a tch'.



The IPA symbol is an 'a-e' digraph.



/eI/: long a ('a' with bar above).

'd ay ', 'f a de', 'd a te', ' a orta', 'dr a pe', 'c a pe'.



/A/: a with diaeresis (two dots) above.

'b o ther', 'c o t', and, with most American speakers,

'f a ther', 'c a rt'.



The IPA symbol is a script 'a'.



/a/: a with dot above.

'f a ther' as pronounced by speakers who do not rhyme it with

bother.



/AU/: a followed by u with dot.

'n ow ', 'l ou d', ' ou t'.



/b/: ' b a b y', 'ri b '.



/tS/: ch. The dictionary notes "(actually, this sound is \t\ + \sh\)"

' ch in', 'na tu re' (/'neI tSR/).



In IPA transcription, this is sometimes spelled as 'c with hacek'.



/d/: ' d i d ', 'a dd er'.



/E/: short e.

'b e t', 'b e d', 'p e ck'.



The IPA symbol is a lower-case epsilon. It is sometimes spelled

with a small capital E.



/i/: long e ('e' with bar above).

'b ea t', 'nosebl ee d', ' e venl y ', ' ea s y '.



/f/: ' f i f ty', 'cu ff '



/g/: ' g o', 'bi g ', ' g ift'.



/h/: ' h at', 'a h ead'.



/hw/: ' wh ale' as pronounced by those who do not have the same

pronunciation for both 'whale' and 'wail'.



/I/: short i.

't i p', 'ban i sh', 'act i ve'.



The IPA symbol is a small capital I or a lower-case iota.



/aI/: long i ('i' with bar above).

's i te', 's i de', 'b uy ', 'tr i pe'.



/dZ/: j. The dictionary notes "(actually, this sound is \d\ + \zh\)"

' j ob', ' g em', 'e dge ', ' j oin', ' j u dge'.



/k/: ' k in', ' c oo k ', 'a che '.



/x/: k with bar below.

Geman 'i ch ', 'bu ch '.



/l/: ' l i l y', 'poo l '.



/m/: ' m ur m ur', 'di m ', 'ny m ph'.



/n/: ' n o', 'ow n '.



/ vowel ~/: superscript 'n'.

"indicates that a preceeding vowel or diphthong is pronounced

with the nasal passages open as in French 'un bon vin blanc' /W~

bo~ va~ blA~/"



The IPA diacritic is a tilde above the vowel.



/N/: eng ('n' with a tail).

'si ng ' /sIN/, 'si ng er' /'sIN R/, 'fi ng er' /'fIN gR/,

'i n k' /iNk/



The IPA symbol is an eng.



/oU/: long o ('o' with bar above).

'b o ne', 'kn ow ', 'b eau '.



/O/: 'o' with dot above.

's aw ', ' a ll', 'gn aw '.



The IPA symbol is a small open 'o' or upside-down 'c'.



/W/: o-e digraph

French 'b oeu f', german 'H o: lle.



The IPA symbol is an o-e digraph.



/Oi/: 'o' with dot above followed by 'i'.

'c oi n', 'destr oy '. [The dictionary also lists 's awi ng',

but I pronounce that as two separate syllables /'sO IN/.]



/p/: ' p e pp er', 'li p '.



/r/: ' r ed', 'ca r ', ' r a r ity'.



/s/: ' s our ce ', 'le ss '.



/S/: sh.

' sh y', 'mi ssi on', 'ma ch ine', 'spe ci al'.



The IPA symbol is an esh: a tall, pulled 's' or long, barless 'f'.



/t/: ' t ie', 'a tt ack'.



/T/: th.

' th in'. 'e th er'.



The IPA symbol as a lower-case theta.



/D/: 'th' with bar below.

' th en', 'ei th er', ' th is'.



The IPA symbol is an eth, sort of a script 'd' with the bar crossed.



/u/: 'u' with diaeresis (two dots) above.

'r u le', 'y ou th', 'union' /'jun j[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]n/, 'few' /fju/.



/U/: 'u' with dot above.

'p u ll', 'w oo d', 'b oo k', 'curable' /'kjUr [AT SYMBOL GOES HERE] b[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]l/.



The IPA symbol is a small letter upsilon. A small capital U or

closed lower-case omega is also used.



/y/: u-e digraph.

German 'f u: llen', 'h u: bsch', French 'r ue '.



/v/: ' v i v id', 'gi ve '.



/w/: ' w e', 'a w ay'.



/j/: ' y ard', ' y oung', 'cue' /kju/, 'union' /'jun y[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]n/;



/ cons ;/: superscript 'y' following consonant;

"indicates that during the articulation of the sound represented

by the preceding character, the front of the tongue has

substantially the position it has for the articulation of the

first sound of 'yard', as in French 'digne' /din;/."



The IPA diacritic is a superscript 'j' following or hook below

the consonant.



/ju/: ' you th', ' u nion', 'c ue ', 'f ew ', 'm u te'.



/jU/: 'c u rable', 'f u ry'.



/z/: ' z one', 'rai se '.



/Z/: zh.

'vi si on', 'azure' /'aZ R/.



The IPA symbol is a yogh: like a flat-topped '3' lowered so that

the top is the height of that of a 'z'.



Evan Kirshenbaum +------