In a Lingua Franca post a few weeks ago, I needed to use the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) to represent the different pronunciations of the English word People still talk about speech ...

The full IPA chart doesn’t typically list diphthongs because you can make them out of any two vowels. Other common diphthongs in English include [aɪ] and [aʊ].

I have a friend who became an English teacher mainly because of his fondness for phonetics. "To be more precise," he says. "I just like to say the word 'diphthong.' I try to plug it into every ...

He found the Wikipedia article on the macron a bit confusing, so I wrote him a version of what appears below about the macron generally, and in English phonetic transcription specifically.

Every writing system represents speech a little differently, and no system is completely faithful to how words are actually pronounced. For over a century, the International Phonetic Alphabet has ...

I promised myself that I wouldn’t mention Sisqo’s 1999 hit “Thong Song” in this article, but I’ve already done it. Avid Grammar Guy reader and fellow word nerd Dan sent ...

To that end, she recommends using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) to phonetically write out Cockney phrases. That’ll help you see exactly where and how you should pronounce words.

More people are learning the basics of te reo Māori, including the correct pronunciation of Maori place names. (File photo)Jason Dorday / Stuff OPINION: In the last column reference was made to a ...

The nature of vowels, consonants, diphthongs, digraphs, the distinction between voice and whispering, the various kinds of whispers, and the nature of the aspirate are fully explained.