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1file PRONUNC.WEB
2================
3 This file gives a number of examples of pronunciation,
4using the entity symbols representing the pronunciations as
5found in the 1913 Webster unabridged dictionary. Not all
6vowel sounds are given here, but the examples should allow one
7to recognize the characters and recall the symbols used to
8represent them. The set of symbols used for pronunciation
9is different from that used in most modern dictionaries,
10but a more worrisome problem is that the pronunciations themselves
11seem in many cases to differ from modern usage. The places of
12the strong and weak accent are, however, in every case
13examined, the same as in modern dictionaries. Anyone who is
14willing to work at revising the pronunciations to reflect modern
15usage or modern symbols should contact PJC.
16
17
18 Pronunciations in the 1913 Webster ASCII version
19 =================================================
20
21Syllables:
22----------------
23 in pronunciations, the short hyphen used in the printed version as a
24syllable-break is represented in the ASCII version by an asterisk (*).
25 the main (heavy) accent is represented by a double-quote (").
26 the secondary (light) accent is represented by a left-single-quote
27(grave accent) (`)
28 the hyphen in hyphenated words is represented by the ASCII hyphen (-).
29 where an accent occurs, no other syllable break is used.
30 sometimes a hyphen occurs after an accent.
31 ------------------------------------------------
32
33Consonants:
34 Most consonants have their normal value in the pronunciations,
35but there are a few special characters, as the n-submacron and the
36"th" ligature. See the end of the "special characters" section.
37
38Special characters:
39--------------------
40 The special characters are represented by two different sets of
41symbols: (1) the RTF-format hexadecimal codes such as \'94 for
42o-umlaut, meaning that the byte code is hexadecimal 94. These
43are used only for those symbols which have been designed into a
44special font set for this dictionary. The font set can only be used
45in a DOS system; or
46(2) an "entity" symbol using "<" and "/" as opening and closing
47delimiters, with a mnemonic string between. In the case of o-umlaut
48the symbol is <oum/. For the vowels, the system is consistent,
49thus <aum/ is a-umlaut, and <ium/ is i-umlaut, etc.
50 These delimiters are used in preference to the HTML-style
51(e.g. &auml;) delimiters because of the heavy use of ampersands in
52the dictionary, to minimize file length. For the same reason,
53the codes within the delimiters are generally shorter than the
54corresponding ISO 8879 codes ( <aum/ rather than &auml; ).
55 For this discussion, I will use the "entity" coding. The
56equivalent hexadecimal codes, where they exist, will be found in
57the tables in the file "webfont.asc".
58
59 The pronunciation system of the 1913 Webster has three peculiarities
60relative to systems used in recent dictionaries.
61(1) a more complex set of symbols are used. This is evident, for
62 example, where the long vowels have different symbols whether
63 they are used in stressed or unstressed syllables. Thus
64 long a in "acre" or "chaos" is represented as a-macron (<amac/ in
65 our notation). But in "chaotic" or "connate" or "comate" it is
66 represented as a symbol looking like a-macron, but with a short
67 ascender in the middle of the macron above the a. This is denoted
68 <asl/ ("a semilong") in our notation.
69
70 Also, some sounds have more than one symbol. Thus, there are several
71 symbols using "y" with a diacritical mark above, representing
72 identical sounds using "i" or "e", but used in those cases where the
73 written word has a "y" in it. So words ending in "y" with
74 pronunciations like the unaccented long "e" usually have
75 a y-breve (<ycr/) in the pronunciation. Why?
76
77(2) The indicated pronunciations themselves are in some cases
78 different from what one would find in a modern dictionary.
79 In part this is due to differences among orthoepists with
80 different notions of how a word should sound, and possibly
81 it is due to differences in the pronunciation between 1890,
82 when British pronunciations may have had more influence, and
83 the present. Thus we see that words ending in -"ties",
84 which are given the pronunciation "-t<icr/z", which sounds
85 like "tizz", whereas I have always heard such words pronounced
86 with a long "e", as in "teez". In Webster's 10th collegiate, they
87 mention that unstressed long e may be pronounced as i in
88 southern British or southern US dialects, and perhaps it
89 was more common in the US in 1890. The <icr/ is an unreliable
90 indicator of modern standard American pronunciation.
91
92(3) The indefinite value, represented by an upside-down e (called
93 the "schwa" is not used, the same sound being represented by
94 symbols like short u <ucr/, or sometimes other vowels.
95
96 So be warned, the pronunciations may not be quite what one would
97 expect. But for this effort, we are trying to reproduce exactly
98 the pronuciations in the original work.
99
100 Notice that in pronunciations, vowels that are obscured are often
101 represented by the italicised vowel without any diacritical marks;
102 these italicised vowels are represented as either <ait/, <eit/, etc.
103 or with an <it> tag, as in m<it>e</it>nt
104 Thus "Christian" is represented as kr<icr/s"ch<it>a</it>n
105 communicant is represented as k<ocr/m*m<umac/"n<icr/*k<ait/nt
106
107
108 Some examples of pronunciations follow:
109 for further explanations of the entities, see the file "webfont.asc"
110 ==============================================================
111
112 <amac/ long a (stressed) (a with a macron above it)
113 late = l<amac/t
114 later = l<amac/t"<etil/r
115 comb-shaped = k<omac/m"-sh<amac/pt`
116 commemorate = k<ocr/m*m<ecr/m"<osl/*r<amac/t
117 deign = d<amac/n
118 deflate = d<esl/*fl<amac/t"
119 defray = d<esl/*fr<amac/"
120 defrayal = d<esl/*fr<amac/"<ait/l
121
122
123 <asl/ long a (unstressed)
124 commodate = k<ocr/m"m<osl/*d<asl/t
125 cometary = k<ocr/m"<ecr/t*<asl/*r<ycr/
126
127 <ait/ italic a
128 communicant = k<ocr/m*m<umac/"n<icr/*k<ait/nt
129 defeasance = d<esl/*f<emac/"z<ait/ns
130 commercial = k<ocr/m*m<etil/r"sh<ait/l
131 compass = k<ucr/m"p<ait/s
132
133 <acr/ short a (a with a crescent [breve] above it)
134 adipose = <acr/d"<icr/*p<omac/s
135 absolve = <acr/b*s<ocr/lv"
136 land = l<acr/nd
137 lamp = l<acr/mp
138
139 <adot/ short a (a with a dot above it)
140 again = <adot/*g<ecr/n"
141 carouse = k<adot/*rouz"
142 coma = k<omac/"m<adot/
143 comma = k<ocr/m"m<adot/ | *These sound different
144 command = k<ocr/m*m<adot/nd" | to me
145 mass = m<adot/s
146 mash = m<adot/sh
147 mat = m<adot/t
148
149 <acir/ a-circumflex ("only in syllables closed by r")
150 care = k<acir/r
151 chair = ch<acir/r
152 share = sh<acir/r
153 compare = k<ocr/m*p<acir/r"
154
155 <aum/ a-umlaut (in pronunciations not the same as in words)
156 arsenic = <aum/r"s<esl/*n<icr/k
157 arson = <aum/r"s'n
158 arm = <aum/rm
159 carp = k<aum/rp
160 far = f<aum/r
161 mar = m<aum/r
162 compart = k<ocr/m*p<aum/rt"
163 compartment = k<ocr/m*p<aum/rt"m<eit/nt
164
165 <add/ a double dot ( with a double dot *below*)
166 all = <add/l
167 talk = t<add/k
168 swarm = sw<add/rm [not aum??]
169 water = w<add/"t<etil/r
170 default = d<esl/*f<add/lt"
171 defraud = d<esl/*fr<add/d"
172 deerstalker = d<emac/r"st<add/k`<etil/r
173
174
175 <eacute/ e-acute (e with an acute accent over it --
176 not used in pronunciations, but in the
177 spelling of words derived from European
178 languages, especially French.)
179 prot<eacute/g<eacute/ = pr<osl/`t<asl/`zh<asl/"
180
181 <ecr/ short e (e with a crescent [breve] above it)
182 degenerate = d<esl/*j<ecr/n"<etil/r*<amac/t
183 delve = d<ecr/lv
184 end = <ecr/nd
185 pet = p<ecr/t
186 ten = t<ecr/n
187
188 <esl/ long e (unstressed)
189 committee = k<ocr/m*m<icr/t"t<esl/
190 defame = d<esl/*f<amac/m"
191 define = d<esl/*f<imac/n"
192 comedy = k<ocr/m"<esl/*d<ycr/
193
194 <eit/ e italic
195 compartment = k<ocr/m*p<aum/rt"m<eit/nt
196 -ment = -"m<eit/nt (for most -ment endings)
197
198 <emac/ e macron (long e, stressed)
199 compeer = k<ocr/m*p<emac/r"
200 deer = d<emac/r"
201
202 <etil/ e-tilde
203 (representing the e before r in many words)
204 (for the same sound in -ur words, <ucir/ is used!)
205 fern = f<etil/rn
206 commercial = k<ocr/m*m<etil/r"sh<ait/l
207 commerce = k<ocr/m"m<etil/rs
208
209 <eum/ e-umlaut (e-diaeresis)
210 (not used in pronunciations.
211 represents e after another e, used in the 1913
212 Webster to indicate that the two e's are
213 pronounced as two vowels, as in "reentry".
214 In the supplemented version, the second e,
215 which is thus marked in the 1913 version,
216 usually has no umlaut over it, conforming
217 to modern orthographic practise.)
218
219 re<eum/nforce = r<emac/`<ecr/n*f<omac/rs"
220 re<eum/entry = r<emac/`<ecr/n"tr<ycr/
221
222 <icr/ short i (i with a crescent [breve] above it)
223 Note: In most cases, this is used where the
224 short i sound of "lip" is intended, but it is
225 also used in the middle of words where Americans
226 use an unstressed long "e" sound, (as the
227 "i" in "serial" and "serious")!?
228 and also in words ending in "ies",
229 coded as "<icr/z" (as in liberties)
230 lip = l<icr/p
231 pin = p<icr/n
232 commission = k<ocr/m*m<icr/sh"<ucr/n
233