What’s in a pronunciation British and U.S. transcription models in the OED

The Oxford English Dictionary has given transcriptions for British English pronunciations since its inception in the late 19th century, with U.S. English pronunciations following at the end of the 20th century. In the 21st (since 2015), these transcriptions have been complemented by audio which allows users to hear an example of the pronunciation spoken aloud, but the written form remains fundamental. OED’s transcription models are largely phonemic representations of the way that “standard English” is spoken in Britain and the United States, avoiding strongly regionally or socially marked forms. OED’s models for British and U.S. English are used to transcribe pronunciations for each dictionary entry in a systematic way, leaving room to reflect variation both at the phonemic and to some degree at the phonetic level. Dr Catherine Sangster, Executive Editor: Pronunciations for Oxford Languages at Oxford University Press, and Dr Matthew Moreland, freelance pronunciation editor and Phonetics Lecturer at the University of East Anglia, presented an interactive online talk in which they traced the evolution of OED’s pronunciation models, discussed their scope, and explored their current and future state. This session covered: • A focus on the unique challenges of developing pronunciation models within the OED’s broader lexicographical remit • The range of linguistic variation which these models can encompass • Q&A time Who is this for? • Linguists • Lexicographers • Sociolinguists • Phoneticians • Researchers using dictionary data

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