The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (abbreviated AHD) uses a phonetic notation based on the Latin alphabet to transcribe the pronunciation of spoken English. It and similar respelling systems, such as those used by the Merriam-Webster and Random House dictionaries, are familiar to US schoolchildren.
The following tables show the AHD representations of English phonemes, along with the IPA equivalents as used on Wikipedia.
Vowels In general, long vowels are marked with a macron, and short vowels with a breve. A circumflex may also be used to indicate a pre-rhotic vowel. Usage of other symbols vary.
AHD IPA Example ă bat ā bait âr bear ä father ĕ bet ē beat ĭ bit ī bite îr beer ŏ bot ō boat ô bought ôr north oi boy o͝o book o͞o boot ou bout ŭ butt ûr bird ə about ər butter Foreign œ French feu, German schön French œuf, German zwölf ü French tu, German über ◌ French bon
Consonants AHD IPA Example b buy ch China d dye f fight g guy h high hw why j jive k kite l lie bottle m my n nigh button ng sing p pie r rye s sigh sh shy t tie th thigh th thy v vie w wide y yacht z zoo zh vision əm rhythm Foreign German ich German ach, Scottish loch
Suprasegmentals Stress is indicated by a prime character following stressed syllables. The character is in boldface when it indicates primary stress.
AHD IPA Description ◌' Primary stress ◌ Secondary stress - Syllable division (omitted after stressed syllables)
See also Pronunciation respelling for English International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
References