science

Pronunciation respelling

Pronunciation respelling is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Pronunciation respelling rather than just read about it. In short: A pronunciation respelling is a regular phonetic respelling of a word that has a standard spelling but whose pronunciation according to that spelling may be ambiguous, which is used to indicate the pronunciation of that word. Pronunciation respellings are sometimes seen in word dictionaries.

Key takeaways

Pronunciation respelling belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Pronunciation respelling to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Pronunciation respelling from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A pronunciation respelling is a regular phonetic respelling of a word that has a standard spelling but whose pronunciation according to that spelling may be ambiguous, which is used to indicate the pronunciation of that word. Pronunciation respellings are sometimes seen in word dictionaries. The term should not be confused with pronunciation spelling which is an ad hoc spelling of a word that has no standard spelling. Most of these are nonce words though some have achieved a certain amount of standardization, e.g., the informal use of the word gonna to represent an informal pronunciation of going to.

Respelling Pronunciation respellings may be used informally to indicate the pronunciation of foreign words or those whose spelling is irregular or insufficient for the reader to deduce the pronunciation. In such cases, typeface, punctuation or letter case may also be used, e.g., to indicate stress or syllabication of the word. For example:

This offers a sometimes intuitive alternative to systems like the International Phonetic Alphabet, which offers precise descriptions but must be learned. For example:

However, respelling relies on the writer's encoded mapping to the same phonemes as the reader's; e.g.

might be adequate for certain non-rhotic readers but not rhotic ones. Unlike the IPA, respelling systems are often specific to the works in which they appear. The English-language Wikipedia, for example, has its own respelling system (available at Help:Pronunciation respelling key) which may or may not match that used on other Wikipedias or in other contexts.

Literary dialect Pronunciation spellings are sometimes used in narratives to represent nonstandard dialects or idiolects to create an impression of backwardness or illiteracy in the speaker. This is called literary dialect, often called eye dialect, though the latter term used to be applied only if the resulting pronunciation is the same as the standard one. For example:

Other uses Pronunciation spellings as deliberate misspellings may be used for humorous effect. The origin of the word okay is disputed, but the most common view is that it derives from "Oll Korrect", an 1830s comical spelling of "All Correct". Such spellings may also be used for branding, e.g., "Lite" foods, Froot Loops. See also sensational spelling.

See also Pronunciation respelling for English Heterography

References Bowdre, Paul H., Jr. (1971). "Eye dialect as a literary device". In J. V. Williamson & V. M. Burke (Eds.), A various language (pp. 178–179). New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. Fine, Elizabeth. (1983). "In defense of literary dialect: A response to Dennis R. Preston". The Journal of American Folklore, 96 (381), 323–330. Ives, Sumner. (1950). "A theory of literary dialect". Tulane Studies in English, 2, 137–182. Ives, Sumner. (1971). "A theory of literary dialect". In J. V. Williamson & V. M. Burke (eds.), A various language (pp. 145–177). New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. Krapp, George P. (1926). "The psychology of dialect writing". The Bookman, 6, 522–527. Preston, Dennis R. (1982). "Ritin' fowklower daun 'rong: Folklorists' failures in phonology". The Journal of American Folklore, 95 (377), 304–326. Preston, Dennis R. (1983). "Mowr bayud spellin': A reply to Fine". The Journal of American Folklore, 96 (381), 330–339. Preston, Dennis R. (1985). "The Li'l Abner syndrome: Written representations of speech". American Speech, 60 (4), 328–336.

External links Vivian Cook's page of common eye dialect

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Pronunciation respelling

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Pronunciation respelling claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Pronunciation respelling before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Pronunciation respelling ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Pronunciation respelling

In research: Pronunciation respelling appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Pronunciation respelling in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Pronunciation respelling is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Linguistic error, Nonstandard spelling, Phonetic guides, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Pronunciation respelling outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Pronunciation respelling in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Pronunciation respelling means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Pronunciation respelling out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pronunciation respelling in simple terms?

Why does Pronunciation respelling matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Pronunciation respelling?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Pronunciation respelling.