Questions tagged [ipa]

International Phonetic Alphabet(IPA)

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What is the IPA for "trade"?

Some of my students have a disagreement about transcribing the pronunciation of "trade" in American English. Some say it's (a) [t͡ʃeɪd] while others (and they point to dictionaries that support them) ...
MYin's user avatar
  • 113
3 votes
1 answer
1k views

What's the lowered "single quote" lookalike marking in phonetic symbols

I understand that the normal "single quote" marking indicates stress, but what about the lowered one?
Andy's user avatar
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16 votes
8 answers
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Is a schwa ever stressed?

Is there a word in RP (Received Pronunciation) where the stressed vowel sound is a schwa?
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9 votes
3 answers
3k views

Difference between /ʌ/ and /ə/ in English IPA

If someone who is a linguistics expert could explain this to me in a way I can understand, I'd really appreciate it. I get that /ʌ/ is used on stressed vowels and /ə/ on reduced vowels, but they sound ...
TheOrionArm's user avatar
0 votes
4 answers
3k views

Why do some dictionaries use (lax ɪ) /ɪŋk/ for "~ink" words when the actual pronunciation is (tense i) /iŋk/?

##SOURCES Words correctly coded tense /i/ sound for "i" a) routine /ruːˈtiːn/ https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/routine b) machine /məˈʃiːn/ https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/machine Words ...
Joshua Robison's user avatar
10 votes
1 answer
28k views

Difference between IPA ɚ, ɹ, and ɝ

Wanting to be more Californian and trying to correct my accent, I'm looking at the sound for mother, in the North America column. What is the difference between IPA symbols for ɚ, ɹ, and ɝ. (ɝ is not ...
huggie's user avatar
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3 votes
4 answers
1k views

Can the schwa sound predict spelling?

More specifically, I was wondering whether the schwa sound can predict which vowel to use in spelling? For instance, does the schwa sound predict "a" spelling more than "e" spelling? I noticed that ...
Boondoggle's user avatar
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2 votes
4 answers
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Why are "fun" and "hulk" phonetically transcribed with the same vowel but pronounced differently?

I see many words in English have the same phonetics but I don't know why they sound different. It means if we read the phonetics and pronounce, it will be wrong. Here are the examples. fun : /fʌn/ ...
TomSawyer's user avatar
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4 votes
3 answers
4k views

Is there any word with two consecutive monophthongs whose symbols could be combined to a diphthong? [closed]

For example, ɔ and ɪ in one word one after another. Note that I talking about a situation where the symbols could be combined as written l, not the sounds. IPA does not have explicit different written ...
user2617804's user avatar
4 votes
5 answers
6k views

What is the difference between /a/ and /æ/?

I don't quite understand the difference between /a/ and /æ/. Google gives the transcription for 'add' as /ad/, while Wiktionary returns /æd/. Are these sounds actually distinct or is this just two ...
John Doe's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
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Are there different types of Pronunciation Guides?

In dictionaries you'll often see a pronunciation guide next to words like (bakery would be beɪkəri). Are there different standards of these pronunciation guides? Also, where can I learn how to ...
Dan's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
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I pronounce initial R's with my upper teeth on the very bottom of my inside lower lip. Not rhotic. What's the IPA for this?

The Wikipedia page "Pronunciation of English /r/" doesn't mention an option for pronouncing R where the upper teeth are really, really at the bottom of the inside lower lip, practically ...
peisander's user avatar
  • 305
27 votes
5 answers
26k views

What phonetic notation is Google dictionary using?

I think Google dictionary is not using IPA. But I don't know what phonetic notation it is using. For example, the "y" in prefix "hypo" is pronounced differently with following phonetic notation in ...
Tim's user avatar
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19 votes
3 answers
5k views

What is the difference between /ʌɪ/ and /aɪ/ in English?

Is there any difference between the two diphthongs in English IPA transcriptions? If I search a word in the Cambridge dictionary, it gives /aɪ/ for both UK English and US English. For example, the ...
user avatar
15 votes
5 answers
5k views

American refusal of the IPA: why?

Are there any historical or political reasons for the rather consistent refusal of the International Phonetic Alphabet on the part of American academics? Did Mark Twain's home-made-English-spelling-...
user58319's user avatar
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6 votes
3 answers
1k views

'Sag' and 'slant': Is the vowel /æ/ the same in both words?

/sæg/ /slænt/ Transcriptions from Cambridge American English Dictionary Both the words' IPA transcriptions have an /æ/ symbol. Do those two /æ/s sound the same? Are they both short or long? Is /æ/ ...
user152435's user avatar
6 votes
4 answers
3k views

How to pronounce a superscript ə?

And why there's a superscript ə? just found this on the dictionary.cambridge.org ...
user152435's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
241 views

How would you transcribe and/or describe this vowel?

I'm analyzing the /æ/ vowel sound (also known as 'short A') found in words like cat, dad, or man. I am particularly interested in how that sound is realized in different dialects of American English ...
kriskarett's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
905 views

Confused About Standard IPA

I'm looking for standard IPA but every book, even dictionaries implement it differently. for example [ɑ] and [ɑ:] or this symbol [ɛ] vs [e]. Some books omit the [i] sound which is the last sound of ...
Sir Meysam Ferguson's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
769 views

Is the underlying form of "n" /n/ or /ŋ/ in words ending in -nk?

There are lots of words ending in -nk in Modern English. In (almost) all those words, the -nk is pronounced [-ŋk]. My understanding is that the "n" in spelling represented [n] originally but ...
user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
163 views

What is the technical description of the pronunciation of the "t" in "countdown"?

I've looked up the pronunciation of "countdown" in a few different dictionaries and they all give it as some variation of /ˈkaʊntˌdaʊn/. However, the "t" is clearly not pronounced ...
CJ Dennis's user avatar
  • 5,115
3 votes
0 answers
144 views

Do native speakers really always pronounce the voiced th as a /ð/? [closed]

In Can we pronounce the 'th' sound as a d? one answer explained that native speakers often don't pronounce the voiced th excactly like how it ideally should sound. What I have noticed over ...
tempdev nova's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
1k views

Different /ə/ pronunciation at the end of a word; for example, in "phenomena"

Sorry for my English but I'm a self-taught beginner. That's why I had been looking at the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) with high hopes until I saw phenomenon’s plural form. In the singular, ...
J. Kowalski's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
1k views

Pronunciation of ‘few’ as [ˈfjyu̯]

I was surprised to see that Wiktionary states few be pronounced as /ˈfjuː/ or /ˈfju/. I have always pronounced it as [ˈfjyu̯]. Furthermore, I've copied the pronunciation from what I've heard and when ...
Joffysloffy's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
31 views

What's the difference between ɔ & ɒ? [duplicate]

What is the difference between ɔ and ɒ? Would bɔl and bɒl both be "ball"? (I'm talking about in standard American English.) I saw this similar question but it hasn't had any answers for ...
jastako's user avatar
  • 119
2 votes
1 answer
252 views

Does /ɛ/ have more than one sound?

As a non-native speaker, I hear /ɛ/ as two different sounds depending on the word. The first sound seems to occur in words such as bet and get and is closer to an /æ/ sound, while the second one ...
Fabrik's user avatar
  • 131
2 votes
1 answer
1k views

What's the difference between /t̬/ and /ɾ/ in American English?

I have learned that the t between vowels in American English is usually an alveolar flap, represented by /ɾ/, which is the voiced counterpart of the usual /t/. Cambridge Online Dictionary gives /ˈbet̬....
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1 vote
2 answers
2k views

Some questions about IPA vowels

I'm studying the English vowels of the IPA. However, I got a few questions which can't be diffused after discussions with my friends. 1. What's the difference between "ə" and "ʌ"? I don't want an ...
Derrick Tsang's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
412 views

What's this notation for marking up pronunciation?

What's this notation for marking up pronunciation? analgesic: ann-ull-JEE-zick What's a good introductory article or book to learn it?
qazwsx's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
468 views

Reason behind Oxford Dictionaries's IPA transcription?

For some reason or another, I was looking at the Oxford Dictionaries definition for ailurophile (cat-lover). Then I noticed that, underneath its Pronunciation header, it gives the IPA transcript as ...
Lordology's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
5k views

Are [ɪ] and [i] are allophones of the same phoneme in English? [closed]

I am leaning towards no, but would like confirmation and perhaps an example to illustrate.
gptt916's user avatar
  • 113
0 votes
1 answer
466 views

What phonetic alphabet is used here?

Can someone tell me what phonetic alphabet is used here? Also, how is this word pronounced? Update: This is a scientific term from a 1976 National Bureau of Standards manual. The original word is ...
Django Reinhardt's user avatar