Phonetic spelling added to the online Macquarie

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The *Macquarie Concise Dictionary,* an Australian online dictionary at

http://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/

now has, in addition to the pronunciation of entry words given in IPA, a phonetic spelling version of the pronunciation. Three examples: For "about," "/@'baUt/ (_say_ uh'bowt)." For "missile," "/'mIsaIl/ (_say_'misuyl)." For "pole," "/p@Ul/ (_say_ pohl)."

I've never seen anything quite like this. The closest to it is a dictionary I once saw in a university library which gave pronunciation in both its own system of phonetic symbols and IPA.

-- Raymond S. Wise Minneapolis, Minnesota USA

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]The *Macquarie Concise Dictionary,* an Australian online dictionary at http://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/ now has, in addition to the pronunciation of entry words ... I once saw in a university library which gave pronunciation in both its own system of phonetic symbols and IPA.[/nq]
Sadly, though, neither system provides non-Aussies with any clue about the pronunciation of Australian English vowels. For instance, the diphthong in "about" is given as /aU/, though it is realized more as (&O) in AusE. Similarly, Macquarie gives the diphthong in "day" as /eI/, when the typical AusE realization is (&I). Even linguists representing AusE in "broad" (phonemic) transcription now often prefer to use /&O/, /&I/, etc.:

See: http://www.ling.mq.edu.au/units/ling210-901/transcription/broad_transcription/broad_transcription.html

For many years the system that has most often been applied to Australian English vowels is known as the Mitchell-Delbridge system. This system evolved from the work of Mitchell and Delbridge (between the 1940s and the 1960s) but which was mostly based on the system applied to south eastern British English. The Mitchell-Delbridge system is the one used in the Macquarie Dictionary and in all speech pathology clinics in Australia. Whilst very widespread, the Mitchell-Delbridge system is not a good reflection of actual Australian pronunciation.

In this course we use instead the system devised by Harrington, *** and Evans (1996). We use this system because it better represents the average pronunciation of these vowels by speakers of Australian English. It also fulfils the requirement that the symbols used for the phonemic transcription of each phoneme is the most common or widely distributed allophone of that phoneme.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]The *Macquarie Concise Dictionary,* an Australian online dictionary at http://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/ now has, in addition to the pronunciation of entry words ... itsown system of phonetic symbols and IPA. Raymond S. Wise Minneapolis, Minnesota USA E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com[/nq]
Well, they seem to have got "missile" right if they are suggesting that the second syllable is to rhyme with "guy."
Cheers, Sage
(AEU scrubbed)

Phonetic spelling added to the online Macquarie

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