lesson
Updated 6 days ago Β· 4 views
What do you do when you run into an impossible-looking word in a book, like ptarmigan or cacophony?
You cannot guess how to say it just by looking at the letters, but a print dictionary gives you a secret cheat code right next to the word.
Let's open up a dictionary page to see where that code hides.
Finding the Respelling
Right after the main entry word, the dictionary shows a pronunciation respelling wrapped inside slashes or parentheses.
πInteractive diagram
Notice those little hyphens and the tiny tick mark inside the respelling? They tell your mouth when to pause and where to push.
Syllables and Stress Marks
Hyphens or dots break the word into syllables, which are the separate rhythm beats you hear when you speak.
The high mark (
Λ) is an accent mark, and it tells you to say the very next syllable louder and with more power.πInteractive diagram
What about strange vowel marks, like a straight bar over an 'e' or an upside-down 'e'?