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International Phonetic Alphabet: Sounds
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The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is the alphabet that shows pronunciation. It is an expanded English alphabet, with the Greek letter theta (θ) representing the unvoiced 'th' sound of 'thin', and the Icelandic letter eð (ð) representing the voiced 'th' sound of 'then'.
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Many British English dictionaries, such as the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary and the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary, now use the International Phonetic Alphabet to represent the pronunciation of words. However, most American (and some British) volumes use their own conventions supposed to be more intuitive for readers unfamiliar with the IPA. For example, the pronunciation-representation systems in many American dictionaries (such as Merriam-Webster) use "y" for IPA [j] and "sh" for IPA [ʃ], reflecting common representations of those sounds in written English. (In IPA, [y] represents the sound of the French
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Most British English dictionaries now use the International Phonetic Alphabet to represent the pronunciation of words. However some British, and most American volumes use a system that may be more intuitive for readers unfamiliar with the IPA. For example, the pronunciation-representation systems in most U.S. dictionaries use "y" for IPA [j] and "sh" for IPA , reflecting the most-common representations of those sounds in written English.
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Several RAF phonetic alphabets were ... used. After the war, with many aircraft and ground personnel drawn from the allied armed forces, "Able Baker" continued to be used in civil aviation. But many sounds were unique to English, so an alternative "Ana Brazil" alphabet was used in Latin America. But the International Air Transport Association (IATA), recognizing the need for a single universal alphabet, presented a draft alphabet to the ICAO in 1947 which had sounds common to English, French, and Spanish. After further study and modification by each approving body, the revised alphabet was implemented November 1, 1951:
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The most accurate kind of phonetic transcription, in which sounds are described in as much detail as the system allows, without any regard for the linguistic significance of the distinctions ... made, is known as narrow transcription. Anything else is termed broad transcription, though "broad" is obviously a relative term. Both kinds of transcriptions are generally enclosed in brackets,[14] but broad transcriptions are sometimes enclosed in slashes instead of brackets.
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