How does this help you lɜrn ɪŋglɪʃ?

The letters at the end of the above sentence (they read “learn English” by the way) are from the International Phonetic Alphabet, or IPA. The IPA is an alphabet that has a letter to represent every sound in every human language.

While it might take some time, learning the IPA gives you the ability to check the pronunciation of different words in the dictionary. This is a very valuable learning tool, particularly for people living in non-English-speaking countries.

In your dictionary, look for the IPA reading just after the definitions usually in parenthesis, like this: (aɪpiːeɪ), between two backslashes, like this: /aɪpiːeɪ/, or in brackets, like this: [aɪpiːeɪ]. It will take awhile to get used to reading the IPA, but it is worth your effort if you find yourself always wondering how the word you just looked-up is pronounced.

There are several IPA charts online. My favourite is the Wikipedia IPA chart for English because it is clear, it only shows English sounds, and it includes diphthongs commonly used in English. The diphthongs (sequences of vowels that produce two or more distinct sounds) are particularly nice to have because it is easy to forget that they are two separate sounds. When you are using the chart, don’t forget to check the “examples” column to be certain that you are using the correct sound.

There are some things you should know before you go off to start learning the IPA.

First, not all dictionaries use IPA. Some dictionaries have their own, supposedly easier, systems. The problem with these non-IPA dictionaries is that when you change to another dictionary, you have to learn another system. Before you start learning IPA, make sure your dictionary uses IPA. It might even be worthwhile to go out and find a dictionary that does use IPA. Both the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary and the Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary use the IPA.

Second, there are broad and narrow transcriptions. Narrow transcriptions are the most accurate, but harder to read. Broad transcriptions are a little less accurate, but easier to read. Two dictionaries using the IPA can spell the same word differently depending on whether they use broad or narrow transcriptions. The results should still sound quite similar, so don’t worry about a little variation.

Third, pronunciation differs between countries, regions, and individuals. A singe phonetic IPA transcription can only represent a single way of pronouncing that word. So, there will be differences between the dictionary and the accent or dialect that you are dealing with.

Finally, check with a teacher now and again to make sure errors aren’t slowly slipping in to your pronunciation.

In spite of these difficulties, learning IPA pronunciations can be a valuable study tool just as long as you are careful about a couple of points.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007 at 10:03 pm and is filed under Pronunciation, English, EFL, ESL, Study Tips, Reading. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.