More on the keyword transcriptions

The varieties represented in Table 5.2 and subsequent vowel charts are all taken from ‘Illustrations of the IPA’ (see Further Reading, p. 76), showing how the principles of the IPA can be adopted to transcribe and describe languages. The ‘Illustrations’ are short and easy to read, and they contain a variety of transcription choices.

The RP transcription uses symbols which reflect the preferences of teachers of English as a Foreign Language; simple symbols are used (such as [e] rather than [ε]) but the symbol [æ] is used (rather than simpler [a]) because it reminds students that the front open vowel in RP is closer than [a] in e.g. many European languages. The Tyneside transcription makes for an interesting contrast with RP: note the different distribution of vowels shown up by the keyword system, such as the vowels of STRUT and BATH, of FACE and GOAT, and of words like NEAR and CURE.

The system used for American English here is one of four presented in the Handbook of the IPA (IPA, 1999). This system marks both vowel quality and vowel length, so it is more detailed and less simple than it need be. For instance, the pair ‘bead’ – ‘bid’ is transcribed [i: I], rather than e.g. [i: i] or [i I], which also capture the distinction.

Transcriptions of Australian English were traditionally based on transcriptions of RP. The one presented here attempts to capture the quality of Australian vowels rather than using RP as a model. New Zealand English is subtly different from Australian English, and this can be seen in the choice of transcription symbols for New Zealand, which are rather faithful to the phonetic detail.