When starting to learn a foreign language, a person is faced with the need to pronounce new words correctly. Unlike Slavic languages, in which most words are read according to certain rules, in English there are quite a few exceptions to the rules for reading words. Phonetic transcription of words will help you pronounce and read words correctly. And although it often seems that this is a complex concept, it is actually very simple once you understand this issue.
The concept of phonetic transcription
Phonetic transcription is a way of graphically recording the sounds of oral speech. The transcription is incredibly accurate and is based on correct pronunciation. To achieve this, each transcription character has a corresponding graphic symbol, and each symbol, in turn, is associated with a clearly defined sound.
With the help of transcription, it is possible to record in writing not only the pronunciation of sounds and words, but also sentences and texts.
Basic rules of transcription
1) First of all, the transcription is always recorded in special square brackets: .
2) If the transcribed word has two or more syllables, stress must be placed.
3) If two words are read together, this is recorded in phonetic transcription using the league icon: [in_house].
4) Capital letters are not written in the transcription.
5) If a sentence or text is transcribed, punctuation marks are not added. Instead, they are replaced with slanted vertical lines / (if the pause is short, like a comma), // (for a longer pause), like a period or semicolon.
6) The softness of a consonant is indicated in transcription using an apostrophe placed to the right of the letter.
7) A non-syllable sound is shown as an arc underneath it.
8) The length of a sound is indicated using a colon [a:], sometimes using a horizontal line above the letter.
9) To write words, there is a specially developed international phonetic alphabet, which is based on Latin letters, as well as some symbols taken from the Greek alphabet.
10) Slavic languages in Cyrillic can also be written in Cyrillic letters (this applies to East Slavic languages).
Transcription in Russian
Despite its apparent simplicity, Russian transcription has a lot of nuances, without knowledge of which it will be difficult to correctly write down the transcribed word. Transcription in Russian is subject to general transcription rules, but there are additional features.
1) Consonant sounds are written using all consonant Cyrillic letters of the alphabet, with the exception of й and ь.
2) Ъ and ь do not indicate sounds, so they are not written down in transcription.
3) The sounds [th] and [h] are always soft, so in transcription they are not indicated by a softness symbol.
4) The sounds [w], [zh], [ts] are always hard, although in rare cases the letter z can give a soft sound [zh". If they are followed by the letter e, it is written in transcription as [e]: "ts [e]thread.”
5) The letter u, in transcription it is the sound [sh:"] or [sh"].
6) If vowels are stressed, they are pronounced clearly and written using six symbols: [a], [u], [o], [i], [e], [s].
7) Diphthongs yu, ya e, ё designate two sounds and are written in transcription respectively [yu], [ya], [ye], [yo] provided that they are either at the beginning of the word or after a vowel, ь or ъ , in other cases - after consonants - they designate one sound [u], [a], [e], [o], with the designation of the previous consonant soft.
8) The letter and after the separating ь becomes a diphthong and its transcription is [йы] - mura [в "ы".
9) J in the transcription of some words is written as [j], for example “cha[j]ka”.
10) The letters o and a, at the very beginning of a word or in the first syllable without stress in transcription, sound like [a], but the sign [^] is used to write them.
11) After soft consonants in syllables without stress, the letters e and i will be written in transcription as a peculiar sound [ie]: [r’ieb’ina] - “rowan”.
It is interesting that most Russian dictionaries do not indicate the transcription of words, so you need to either learn how to do it yourself, or use the services of online resources that do it.
Transcription in English
If Russian transcription can be written either in Latin or Cyrillic, then English transcription is always written using the Latin IPA alphabet. It is also subject to rules and symbols common to all languages for transcribing words. However, unlike Russian, the pronunciation of English words has a more historical tradition and is often not subject to rules. In such cases, transcription is the only way to pronounce the word correctly. Therefore, most English words in dictionaries are written with transcription. The table below shows the main symbols used in the transcription of English words.
Knowing what phonetic transcription is is very important, because this knowledge allows anyone not only to correctly read a word in a foreign language, but also to correctly pronounce words in their native language.
Transcription is a concept used in several disciplines at once. In phonetics, transcription serves to record spoken speech in signs. It is based on a one-to-one correspondence between a graphic symbol and sound. Understanding what phonetic transcription is is very simple. It is enough to simply compare the sound of a word with its graphic designation. Writing a transcription of a word sometimes causes difficulties, because in Russian the sound is fundamentally different from the spelling of the word. The same cannot be said about a language like German. In it, the letters recorded on paper exactly repeat the sounds, so learning this language is very simple. Let's look at what transcription of a word is.
Transcription in phonetics
To write a word with sounds, the transcribed sounds are usually enclosed in brackets (square). Pauses in transcribed speech are recorded as #, but very often they are not taken into account at all in writing.
Words that consist of several syllables must have stress in their transcription. In the case when two words (most often this word and a preposition) are pronounced together, when recording the transcription, a league _ is placed between these words.
As for Russian phonetics, only the Cyrillic alphabet is used to record sounds. Consonant sounds are written with equivalent letters of the Russian alphabet; icons are placed next to or above them, which indicate softness, length of sound and other features of the sound.
Some sounds are similar to each other, so when recording they can be confused, which is the most common mistake when transcribing. Translation is the reading of a word according to the specified transcription. Thus, you can easily understand what transcription and translation are in Russian and how to write it correctly.
Transcription in music
Since transcription is a concept inherent in various sciences, for comparison it is necessary to consider what transcription is in music. Very often, musicians independently transpose a piece of music intended for another instrument onto their own and perform it in their own arrangement. This process is called transcription. Thus, reading musical notation is compared here to writing words, and playing music with an instrument is similar to playing sounds with the speech organs.
Transcription in biology
In biology, transcription is a more complex concept that refers to the synthesis of RNA using DNA as a template. This process occurs with a certain frequency in all living organisms. Simply put, it is the process of transferring gene information from DNA to RNA. Let's take a closer look at what transcription is in biology.
In biology, unlike music and the Russian language, translation is precisely the process of catalysis by enzymes. Transcription consists of several stages: initiation, elongation and termination. The initial stage of the process directly depends on the sequence of DNA elements next to the transcribed sequence, as well as on the absence and presence of proteins.
The second stage is not exactly fixed in a conventional framework. However, it characterizes three main events, namely: the separation of the sigma factor, the preliminary translocation of the enzyme towards the template, and the stabilization of the transcription complex, which also includes the growing RNA chain. The elongation phase very often ends after the transcript is released and the enzyme dissociates. Elongation unwinds DNA into 18 base pairs as it moves inside RNA polymerase.
The third stage is the least studied in humans and other higher organisms, but in plants it occurs most simply and quickly. Bonds are created between mRNA and DNA, resulting in the release of one of the RNA molecules.
Definitely, to find out what transcription in medicine is, you need to have deep knowledge in this science. Transcription is very often used in the study of genetic and other diseases.
In English, like no other language, there are many words whose spelling is difficult to explain. The fact is that the writing of the Angles and Saxons, who conquered Britain, did not change with the same intensity as pronunciation during the transition from runes to the Latin alphabet. The conquests of the Franks, Vikings and the Catholic Church had a huge influence on the development of speech.
For this reason, many lexical units in English are pronounced differently from how they are written, and there are also words that are read differently in different contexts. For example, for a beginner to read the word choir without the help of a native speaker it is almost impossible, and the pronunciation of the verb read(in the past time read) sounds different in different contexts.
Transcription in English is a system of special symbols that represent actually pronounced speech sounds and were created in order to most accurately convey the pronunciation of words or entire phrases.
Transcription is used to convey in writing the reference sound of English vocabulary, and knowledge of it allows you to easily pronounce previously unfamiliar words correctly on your own. The need to master English transcription is also due to some discrepancies between the spelling and pronunciation of individual words that have either unreadable letters or exceptions to the rules.
Transcription symbols
There are various classifications English sounds on the participation of the speech organs, methods of forming obstacles to air flows, place of pronunciation and other articulation options. In total, modern linguists in the English language count 44 sounds, which correspond to certain transcription signs. Along with them, the following service symbols are used in English transcription:
- square brackets denoting the transcription entry itself:
Pen [ pen] - pen
- The colon symbol used to express the length of a sound:
Dark [ da:k] - dark
- parentheses - in the event that a certain sound may be “dropped out”:
Summer [ ˈsʌmə(r)] - summer
- There are two types of stress marks - the upper one, similar to an apostrophe, and the lower one in the form of a stroke at the bottom before the syllable:
Demonstration [ ˌdemənˈstreiʃn] - demonstration
Transcription examples
Just like individual characters, transcribed words are enclosed in square brackets. According to the type of stress, transcriptions of words can be divided into three groups:
- monosyllabic, where there is no need to put an accent mark:
- words with single stress:
- words with double stress, one of which is called weak and the other strong:
Entire phrases can be written down in transcription, in which case some changes may occur in the pronunciation of words.
Sounds of English transcription
In our guide to English phonetics you will find detailed descriptions of individual sounds with examples of their pronunciation. Here we will look at brief explanations on the pronunciation of sounds used in English transcription.
For ease of memorization, we will divide sounds into consonants, vowels and diphthongs (indivisible vowels consisting of two elements forming one syllable). It is not recommended to find complete correspondences of English sounds to transcription signs of the native language. Some of them are unique, others are pronounced with significant differences, and some of them are very close in pronunciation to Russian sounds.
Consonants
|
[ b ]
book |
close to Russian sound [ b ] |
[ p ]
pen |
pronounced with aspiration (sharp expulsion of air from the oral cavity) |
|
[ d ]
disk |
close to Russian sound [ d |
[ t ]
tip |
pronounced with the tip of the tongue on the alveoli (tubercles above the teeth) and aspiration |
|
[ k ]
kind |
pronounced with aspiration (exhalation) |
[ g ]
good |
close to Russian [ G ] |
|
[ f ]
fox |
close to Russian [ f ] |
[ v ]
vane |
close to Russian [ V ] |
|
[ l ]
lake |
pronounced like [ l], but with the tip of the tongue on the alveoli |
[ n ]
name |
close to Russian sound [ n], but is pronounced on the alveoli |
|
[ m ]
mother |
close to Russian sound [ m], but softer |
[ h ]
hot |
vaguely resembles the Russian sound [ X], but it sounds like a simple exhalation |
|
[ s ]
send |
hard [ With], is never softened like in the word "seven" |
[ z ]
zebra |
close to Russian [ h ] |
|
[ j ]
yes |
reminds me of the Russian sound [ th], but sounds less distinct |
[ r ]
rose |
when pronouncing, the tip of the tongue is raised strongly upward (towards the back of the alveoli), the tongue does not vibrate |
|
[ ŋ
]
song |
This is approximately what you get if you pronounce the sound [ n] in the nasopharynx |
[ w ]
win |
when pronounced, the lips are strongly rounded and moved forward, then instantly move into position for pronouncing the next vowel |
|
[ ʃ
]
ship |
reminds me of the Russian sound [ w], but sounds softer |
[ ʒ
]
treasure |
ringing sound, close to Russian [ and] in the word “live”, but it sounds soft |
|
[ tʃ ]
chain |
similar to Russian sound [ h], pronounced on the alveoli |
[ dʒ ]
best |
tʃ], but pronounced loudly |
|
[ θ
]
thin |
the sound produced by placing the tip of the tongue between the teeth and pushing air into the gap formed |
[ ð
]
that |
articulated in the same way as [ θ ], but with the participation of the vocal cords |
Vowel monophthongs
|
[ ʌ
]
cut |
very short sound [ A ] |
[ e ]
pen |
close to Russian [ uh ] |
|
[ ʊ
]
put |
short sound [ at ] |
[ æ
]
cat |
average between [ uh] And [ A], pronounced briefly |
|
[ i ]
sing |
short [ And], close to soft [ s ] |
[ ɒ
]
box |
has a shade between Russian sounds [ A] And [ O ] |
|
[ ə
]
teacher |
resembles something between unstressed Russian sounds [ A] And [ uh ] |
[ u: ]
zoo |
long [ ʊ ] |
|
[ ɔ:
]
tall |
long open [ O ] |
[ i: ]
be |
long [ i], softer than a short sound |
|
[ a: ]
park |
long open [ A ] |
[ ɜ:
]
girl |
sounds like [ e] in the drawn-out word "honey", but a little more harshly |
Vowel diphthongs
|
[ əʊ
]
vote |
close to the Russian sound combination [ OU] with a shorter [ at ] |
[ aʊ ]
out |
sounds about the same as in the word "Faust" |
|
[ ei ]
lay |
The vowels in the word “beat” are similar in sound |
[ ɔi ]
boy |
sounds like the word "fight", but more openly |
|
[ iə ]
clear |
begin with [ i] and ends with a slide in the direction of the neutral sound [ ə ] |
[ ai ]
file |
sounds more open than in the borrowed word "file" |
|
[ ʊə
]
poor |
starts with a short [ ʊ ] and ends with the neutral [ ə ] |
[ eə ]
fare |
The core of a diphthong is the open sound [ e], similar to Russian [ uh], ends with a slide to neutral [ ə ] |
Thus, taking into account the above, we can say with confidence that the value English transcription difficult to overestimate. Without it, independent language learning is almost impossible. This system of auxiliary symbols allows you to practice correct English pronunciation and greatly reduces the time it takes to recognize new words and master speech skills.
", transcription is used by everyone, sometimes even unconsciously. First, let's refresh our memory, what does the phrase “English transcription” mean?
English Transcription is a sequence of phonetic symbols that helps us understand how to read a particular sound or word. Often, students encounter transcription at the beginning of learning a language, when it is still quite difficult to read even fairly simple words, and then they simply do not pay attention to it. However, this will not be the case forever.
As soon as a student begins to skillfully use complex grammatical structures and develops a good vocabulary for free communication, then the desire immediately appears to speak beautifully, like a native speaker, that is, to improve his pronunciation of English words. This is where we remember the good old transcription.
In order not to have to remember the well-forgotten old things, we suggest returning to the repetition from time to time. Of course, ideally, the transcription should be completed together with the teacher, because writing cannot convey all the subtleties of pronunciation, but if you are reading this article now, the foundation for beautiful pronunciation and correct reading has already been laid, and you will definitely achieve your desired goal.
Transcription of vowel sounds
There are two types of vowel sounds - single sounds and diphthongs.
[ ʌ ] - [a] - short;
[a:]- [a] - deep;
[i]- [and] - short;
[i:]- [and] - long;
[o]- [o] - short;
[o:]- [o] - deep;
[u]- [y] - short;
[u:]- [y] - long;
[e]- as in the word “plaid”;
[ ɜ: ] - as in the word “honey”.
English diphthongs
A diphthong is a sound that consists of two sounds. Most often, a diphthong can be divided into two sounds, however, this cannot be conveyed in writing. Often diphthongs are indicated not by a combination of several characters, but by their own sign.
[əu]- [ OU ];
[au]- [au];
[ei]- [ Hey ];
[oi]- [ Ouch ];
[ai]- [ouch].
Rules for pronunciation of vowels in English
- Sound " a"has four varieties:
[ ʌ ] - short sound, as in the words “duck”, “cut”;
[ æ ] - soft sound. There is no analogue to it in the Russian language. It is read as in the word “cat”;
[a:]- a long sound that is read as in the word “car”;
[ ɔ ] - a short sound that sounds similar to both “o” and “a”. In British pronunciation, it is more of an "o", as in "hot" or "not".
- Sound " e" can be read in three ways:
[e]- for example, as in the word “let”;
[ ə: ] - this sound is a little reminiscent of the Russian letter “ё”, only it is read a little softer. For example, "bird", "fur";
[ ə ] - one of the most common sounds in English transcription. In sound, this sound is similar to the Russian sound “e”. It occurs only in unstressed syllables and can be practically inaudible or indistinguishable, for example, ["letə", "letter" - letter.
- Sound " i"can be long or short:
[I]- a short sound, for example, as in the word “film”;
[i:]- a long sound, for example, as in “sheep”.
- Sound " O"also has 2 options - long and short:
[ ɔ ] - short sound, as in the word “bond”;
[ ɔ: ] - a long sound, as in the word “more”.
- Sound " u" can also be pronounced in two ways. It can be long or short:
[u]- short sound, as in the word “put”;
[u:]- long sound, as in the word “blue”.
Transcription of consonants
In the transcription of consonant sounds, everything is quite simple. Basically they sound similar to Russian. It is enough to take a thoughtful look at the above-mentioned letter combinations a couple of times, and they will remain in your memory.
Consonants
[b]- [b];
[d]- [d];
[f]- [f];
[ 3 ] - [ and ];
[dʒ]- [j];
[g]- [ G ];
[h]- [ X ];
[k]- [ To ];
[l]- [l];
[m]- [m];
[n]- [n];
[p]- [ P ];
[s]- [ With ];
[t]- [ T ];
[v]- [ V ];
[z]- [z];
[t∫]- [h];
[ ∫ ] - [w];
[r]- soft [r], as in the word Russian;
[ O ]- a sign of softness as in the Russian letter “ё” (Christmas tree).
English consonants that are not in Russian and their pronunciation:
[ θ ] - soft letter “c”, the tongue is located between the front teeth of the upper and lower jaws;
[ æ ] - like “e”, only more sharply;
[ ð ] - like “θ”, only with the addition of a voice, like a soft letter “z”;
[ ŋ ] - nasal, in the French manner, sound [n];
[ ə ] - neutral sound;
[w]-like “v” and “u” together, soft pronunciation.
Features of English transcription
In order to make it easier to navigate reading words, it is important to know the main features of transcription:
- Feature 1. Transcription is always formatted in square brackets
- Feature 2. In order not to get confused about where to place the stress in a word, it is worth considering that it is always placed before the stressed syllable. ["neim] - transcription of the word name.
- Feature 3. It is important to understand that transcription is not the English letters and sounds that make up a word. Transcription is the sound of words.
- Feature 4. In English, transcription consists of vowel sounds, diphthongs and consonants.
- Feature 5. In order to show that the sound is long, a colon is used in transcription.
Of course, knowing only character sets, it is quite difficult to read everything correctly, because there are many exceptions. In order to read correctly, you need to understand that there are closed and open syllables. Open syllable ends with a vowel (game, sunshine), closed- on a consonant (ball, dog). Some sounds in English can be pronounced differently depending on the type of syllable.
Conclusion
It is worth remembering that in any business the main thing is practice (by the way, you can start practicing English remotely right now). Transcribing sounds in English will be easy for you if you work hard at it. Reading the rules once is not enough. It is important to return to them, work through them and repeat them regularly until they are practiced to the point of automaticity. In the end, the transcription will allow you to correctly pronounce sounds in English.
Dictionaries will help you memorize English with transcription and correct pronunciation of English letters and words. You can use both English online dictionaries and good old printed publications. The main thing is not to give up!
Inspiration to you and success in your studies. May the knowledge be with you!
Big and friendly EnglishDom family
what is transcription
- Transcription is the recording of the sound of a letter or word in the form of a sequence of special phonetic symbols.
- Recording sounds
- Transcription is a recording of the sound of a letter or word in the form of a sequence of special phonetic symbols
- This is the correct pronunciation of sounds.
These are also symbols that represent sounds. - French
- I didn’t expect that this word had so many meanings; just like, for example, the word “a priori”.
Transcription (in biology) TSB
Transcription in biology, the biosynthesis of ribonucleic acid (RNA) carried out in living cells on a matrix - deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). T. is one of the fundamental biological processes, the first stage in the implementation of genetic information.
Transcription of Old Testament names and geographical names Bibliological Dictionary
TRANSCRIPTION OF OLD TESTAMENT NAMES AND GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES, transmission of these names and names in ancient and new translations of the Bible in order to approximately preserve the sound.
Transcription Music Dictionary
Transcription (Latin, “correspondence”) is essentially the same as arranging a piece for a different set of instruments than it was written in the original; but is often used in the same sense as paraphrase, fantasy (eg.
Transcription (rewriting) TSB
Transcription (from Latin transcriptio - rewriting), written reproduction of words and texts, taking into account their pronunciation using a certain graphic system.
Transcription Concise Music Dictionary
TRANSCRIPTION is a free virtuosic processing of works written in the original for other performing means. There are piano transcriptions of F. Schubert's songs made by F. Liszt, and violin transcriptions of opera excerpts.
Transcription Economic Dictionary
TRANSCRIPTION - The transfer of debit or credit items in trading books.
Transcription Dictionary Ushakov
In our dictionary, Greek and oriental words are placed in Latin transcription. International phonetic t. (accurate transmission of speech sounds using a conventional alphabet; linguistic). Sheet music vol. 3. Arrangement of a piece of music for another...
Transcription. Natural Sciences
Transcription is the biosynthesis of RNA on a DNA matrix, carried out in the cells of the body. Transcription is the first stage of the implementation of the genetic code, during which the sequence of DNA nucleotides is rewritten into the nucleotide sequence of RNA.
Transcription (in music) TSB
Transcription in music, arrangement of a musical work (arrangement) or its free virtuoso arrangement (concert T). She played an important role in the development of instrumental music.
Transcription by Brockhaus and Efron
Transcription, 1) lat. , letters image of sounds and forms known. , a language with or without its own. writing system, using letters. systems.
Transcription is a method of translating a lexical unit of the original by recreating its sound form using letters of the target language. Non-equivalent vocabulary Translation techniques.
Transcription. Social Sciences
Transcription is an arrangement of a musical work (arrangement) or its free virtuoso arrangement (concert transcription). The composer who creates the transcription does not strictly adhere to the original.
Transcription Publishing Dictionary
TRANSCRIPTION, or practical transcription, is the transmission in letters of the target language (language of publication) of how an untranslatable word is pronounced in the original language; eg
Transcription Jazz, rock and pop music
Transcription (Latin transcriptio - rewriting) is a term meaning transcription, reworking of a musical work or notation of music by ear.
Reverse transcription. Natural Sciences
Reverse transcription is the synthesis of DNA on an RNA template. In this case, the transfer of genetic information occurs from RNA to DNA. Transcription.
TSB operon
At the beginning of O., a promoter is usually localized, the transcription-initiating region of DNA, to which the enzyme RNA polymerase, which carries out transcription, specifically binds. - Transcription is the process of RNA synthesis using DNA as a template, occurring in all living cells.
Transcription (the word literally means rewriting, from trans- through, re- + scribo I draw, I write): - Transcription (from Latin transcription - rewriting) is the recording of words in full accordance with their sound.
In Russian, written words do not always correspond to their pronunciation. To show the pronunciation of a word, a special recording is used, which is called TRANSCRIPTION.
Special characters are used in transcription. - transcription is how to do phonetic analysis of the word toko with brackets
