Query Details
| Query Subject: |
American pronunciation
|
| Author: | Larry Trask |
| Submitter Email: | click here to access email |
| Query: |
This is a question about the transcription of American English pronunciation. I am currently serving as a consultant to the next (third) edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED 3). Pronunciation is not part of my brief, but an issue has arisen in the representation of American pronunciation. Unlike its predecessors, OED 3 plans to provide both standard British pronunciation (RP) and General American pronunciation, where these differ. Fine. Now, even though both transcriptions are to be presented within phoneme slashes, the transcriptions given are no meant to be phonemic, but rather some kind of compromise between phonemic and phonetic transcription. Fine up to a point, I guess. But now comes the problem. The editors have decided to represent the familiar American "tapped /t/" (US "flapped /t/") by the symbol /d/. So, for example, the word 'atom' will be transcribed /'aed@m/ ('@' = schwa), just like 'Adam'. This surprises me. I have queried the decision, but I have been told that the dictionary's policy is to keep diacritics and special symbols to a minimum, and so, in order to represent the tapped /t/, the dictionary will use /d/, instead of the phonetically accurate IPA fishhook symbol, or instead of /t/ plus a voicing diacritic, as found for example in John Wells's pronouncing dictionary. The thinking behind this is that the voicing of the /t/ in this position is more salien than its tapped nature. Now, I am unhappy with this. I'm American myself, and, like probably all Americans, I pronounce 'atom' and all other such words neither with phonemic /d/ nor with phonetic [d]. As far as I'm concerned, 'atom' has phonemic /t/, and its phonetic nature as a (typically voiced) tap is merely a predictable allophonic fact about /t/. Accordingly, transcribing 'atom' as /'aed@m/ is unacceptable to me -- in spite of the fact that 'atom' is phonetically homophonous with 'Adam' in my casual speech (though certainly not in my careful speech). However, the editors assure me that "most American readers will feel the essential rightness of such a phonetic transcription". Are the editors right? Given the admitted limitations of the transcription system available to the dictionary, is it true tha Americans will generally prefer /d/ to /t/ to represent the tapped /t/ in words like 'atom'? One final point. I have a version of Canadian Raising, and, in my accent, 'writer' and 'rider' are not homophonous at all, even though I pronounce both with taps, because the two diphthongs are very different in quality. But I haven't yet seen any relevant entries, and so I don't know what the dictionary's policy will be with these. If you have a view on this, please reply privately to me, and I'll post a summary of responses to the list. Larry Trask COGS University of Sussex Brighton BN1 9QH UK larryt@cogs.susx.ac.uk Tel: (01273)-678693 (from UK); +44-1273-678693 (from abroad) Fax: (01273)-671320 (from UK); +44-1273-671320 (from abroad) |
