Draft:Pronouncing dictionary

Jon Arvid Afzelius' [de; sv] Concise Pronouncing Dictionary of Modern English of 1909 is considered the first modern pronouncing dictionary

A pronouncing dictionary (also pronunciation dictionary or dictionary of pronunciation) is a dictionary which provides information on the pronunciation of words through phonetic transcriptions.

Purpose

Pronouncing dictionaries provide information about the pronunciation of words,^[1] although there is longstanding disagreement on if such a dictionary should strive to prescribe pronunciations or describe the pronunciations common among speakers.^[2] For instance, according to 19th-century phonologist Richard Cull: "the object of a pronouncing dictionary is to record the pronunciation of the words of a language, in order to enable a reader of ordinary intelligence to pronounce them aright;"^[3] whereas the second edition of Webster's New International Dictionary says that: "[t]he function of a pronouncing dictionary is to record as far as possible the pronunciations prevailing in the best present usage, rather than to attempt to dictate what that usage should be."^[4]

Transcription

Styles of phonetic transcription includes native language respelling and the International Phonetic Alphabet.

Native language respelling

Respelling is a method of phonetic transcription which is based primarily on existing words in the language rather than IPA.^[5] An advantage of this method is that native speakers can easily associate words they already know with the transcription and thereby ascertain pronunciations easier. Respelling can also accommodate regional variation in pronunciation.^[6]

International Phonetic Alphabet

The International Phonetic Alphabet...

References

1. Marckwardt 1953, p. 35.
2. Beal & Sturiale 2008, pp. 9–18.
3. Cull 1867, p. v.
4. Marckwardt 1953, p. 36.
5. Häcker 2012, p. 49.
6. Häcker 2012, p. 57.

Bibliography

• Beal, Joan C.; Sturiale, Massimo (2008). "Introduction". In Beal, Joan C.; Nocera, Carmela; Sturiale, Massimo (eds.). Perspectives on Prescriptivism. Peter Lang. ISBN 978-3-03911-632-4.
• Cowie, A. P., ed. (2009). The Oxford History of English Lexicography. Vol. II. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-928561-7.
  • Beal, Joan C. (2009). "Pronouncing Dictionaries—I Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries". The Oxford History of English Lexicography. Vol. II. pp. 149–175.
  • Collins, Beverly; Mees, Inger M. (2009). "Pronouncing Dictionaries—II Mid-Nineteenth Century to the Present Day". The Oxford History of English Lexicography. Vol. II. pp. 176–218.
• Cull, Richard (1867). "On Pronunciation". In Ogilvie, John (ed.). An English Dictionary, Etymological, Pronouncing, and Explanatory, for the Use of Schools. Blackie & Son.
• Marckwardt, Albert H. (1953). "The Dictionary as a Guide to Pronunciation". College Composition and Communication. 4 (2): 35–38. doi:10.2307/354040. ISSN 0010-096X.
• Häcker, Martina (2012-05-01). "The Change from Respelling to IPA in English Dictionaries: Increase in Accuracy or Increase in Prescriptivism?". Language & History. 55 (1): 47–62. doi:10.1179/1759753612Z.0000000004. ISSN 1759-7536.