General explanations (continued)

Pronunciation

The pronunciation is the actual living form or forms of a word, that is, the word itself, of which the current spelling is only a symbolization - generally, indeed, only the traditionally-preserved symbolization of an earlier form, sometimes imperfect to begin with, still oftener corrupted in its passage to our time. This living form is the latest fact in the form-history of the word, the starting-point of all investigations into its previous history, the only fact in its form-history to which the lexicographer can personally witness. For all his statements as to its previous history are only reproductions of the evidence of former witnesses, or deductions drawn from earlier modes of symbolizing the forms of the word then current, checked and regulated by the ascertained laws and principles of phonology. To register the current pronunciation is therefore essential, in a dictionary which deals with the language on historical principles. It would be manifestly absurd, for example, to trace the form-history of the first numeral from the Old Germanic ain, through the Old English án, to the Middle English oan, on, oon, one, and to stop short at the last of these, without recognizing the modern English (wn), which represents a greater change within the last three and a half centuries than had previously taken place in 1500 years. The fact that the written history, as embodied in the spelling, accidentally stops short at the Middle English one, makes it all the more necessary to give the modern history and current form of the living word, since of these no hint is otherwise conveyed.

The system of transcription employed in this edition is the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). It follows, in the main, the principles for transcribing English pronunciation used in other Oxford Dictionaries. The minor differences in style have been adopted in order to accommodate the phonetic representation of unassimilated foreign words, dialect and regional forms, and the reconstructed pronunciation of earlier English.

A list of the symbols employed in the transcription is provided in the Key to the Pronunciation.

The following features deserve special notice:

Consonants. The breathed (voiceless) pronunciation of the combination wh, used by many speaker of English, is represented by (hw). The possibility that 'linking r' may occur at the end of a word in which a final r is written, when the following word begins with a vowel-sound, is symbolized by ((r)), e.g. her (h(r)). Parentheses around other consonants, for example (j) in words like suit, (p) in words like impromptu, or (t) in words like bench, indicate that the enclosed sounds may or may not be heard in the context. A hyphen is used between (t) and () belonging to separate word elements (e.g. in courtship) in contradistinction to the affricative group (t) that is usually written ch. Double consonants are shown by the doubling of the symbol.

Vowels and Diphthongs. The symbolization of the vowels of the principal foreign languages cited generally corresponds to the system of so-called 'cardinal vowels'. English 'short e' (as in bet) is treated as approximately equivalent to cardinal no. 3, and therefore symbolized by (). Following the first edition, the long open vowel () (as in border) is distinguished from the centring diphthong () (as in boarder) which is of a different origin but has become identical with it in most varieties of southern British pronunciation. Length (symbolized by ()) is shown in English words, in accordance with general present-day custom, even though most 'long' and 'short' vowels are identified and distinguished more by their place of articulation than by their duration, which varies in accordance with context. The distinction observed in this Dictionary between the 'long' close vowels (i) and (u) and the 'short' open vowels () and () in syllables with low stress should be understood in the light of this. Length is marked in words from foreign languages in which this is conventional. It is occasionally marked in French words (in which it is not strictly necessary) when these are felt to have become somewhat Anglicized. Nasalization is shown by the tilde (). Parenthesized 'schwa' () preceding the consonants (l), (m), or (n) indicates that these are, or may be pronounced as, syllabic consonants. Parentheses around any other vowel symbol indicate that it may or may not be heard in that context.

Alternative pronunciations. Alternative pronunciations for a word are listed, set off by commas, and where necessary labelled. Parallels () indicate the non-naturalized pronunciation of the word. Older pronunciations are sometimes distinguished by 'formerly'; but no exhaustive analysis of the currency, frequency, or distribution of alternative pronunciations is implied by their ordering. An alternative pronunciation may be indicated simply by a transcription of that part of the word which is phonetically different, indicated by leading or following hyphens. The existence of a variant pronunciation with (æ) in many words which contain a (pronounced ) is indicated by adding -æ- (or æ-) after the main transcription. The (now fairly rare) variant pronunciation of o (usually ) as () is indicated by a parallel convention.

Stress. The main stress is shown by a superior stress mark () preceding the stressed syllable. Secondary stress is shown by an inferior stress mark (). Syllables can begin with a vowel, a single consonant, or as large a consonant group as would be articulable at the beginning of a word, but in certain words speakers actually make a syllable-division at a later point. Where stress is marked in ordinary graphic forms, the same general principles are observed, with certain allowances for English spelling. Any consonant combinations that make up only a single sound are treated as unbreakable (so occur, parapsychic but accede, resignation); single letters symbolizing consonant combinations are perforce unbreakable (so existence). Sometimes the function of the stress-mark is to show that a word is a disyllable rather than the monosyllable it might otherwise appear to be, e.g. higher (ha(r)) but hire (ha(r)); creat but treat.

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