PHONETICS

THREE: TRANSCRIPTION SYMBOLS

Because spelling is a poor representation of the way words are pronounced, we

resort to the use of phonetic symbols. Each sound has a symbol that corresponds to it,
regardless of the different ways it may be spelt in different words. Thus the symbol
/f/ stands for the initial sound in both "fine" and "photo". Most of these symbols will
look familiar and very similar to English spelling, with the exception of a few
symbols which may look strange but you can learn them easily through practice.
Here is a list of the symbols that will be used in this book, each followed by a word
starting with the sound that the symbol represents.
/p/ pill /f/ feel /m/ mere
/b/ Bill /v/ veal /n/ near
/t/ till /θ/ thaw /Ŋ/ sing
/d/ day /ð / though /w/ what
/g/ game /s/ say /j/ yes
/k/ kill /z/ zinc r/ ride
/h/ hill /ʃ/ share /tʃ/ chair
/l/ like /ʒ/ measure /dʒ/ jar

/ɪ/ fill /İ:/ feel e/ fell

/o/ lot /u/ full /ʌ/ luck
/ə/ above /ɑ:/ lark 3:/ fur
/Ɔ:/ sport /u:/ groom

/eɪ/ fail əu/ no /ɪə/ here

/aɪ/ file /au/ now /eə/ pear
/ Ɔɪ/ boy /uə/ poor

However, different dictionaries use different phonetic symbols to representthe sounds

of English. Having read the symbols above, find out whetheryour dictionary uses the
same symbols.