In the late 19th century, in order to overcome the disorder of the then-prevailing phonetic transcription schemes, Western linguistics discussed and developed a phonetic scheme — the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). The “international” of IPA refers to its being usable for explaining many languages; it does not mean it is “international” specifically with regard to English. For the sole purpose of memorizing words, the shortcomings of the IPA method are evident:
- It reduces different letter combinations that share the same sound to a single phonetic symbol, which easily leads to spelling errors.
- Its introduction disrupts the natural order of phonics thinking and severs the link between a word’s sound and its form.
- It leads learners to abandon the more important pronunciation rules.
China currently relies mainly on IPA to explain English speech sounds; this approach is not a good method for second-language learners memorizing vocabulary.
IPA and IPS Comparison Table
The table below compares the International Phonetic Alphabet with the phoneme notation used in this book. As the table shows, unlike the IPA — which invents new characters — this phoneme notation unifies sound and form. The key to memorizing English words is to know this table by heart and pronounce every word accurately.
This book places phoneme notation within [ ] and IPA within / / to distinguish them.
| IPA | IPS Notation | IPA | IPS Notation |
|---|---|---|---|
| /p/ | [p] | /æ/ | [a] |
| /b/ | [b] | /e/ | [e],[èa] |
| /t/ | [t] | /i/ | [i],[ẏ],[ė],[ėy],[ȧ],[u̇] |
| /d/ | [d] | /ɔ/ | [o] |
| /k/ | [k],[c] | /ʌ/ | [u],[ô],[ôu],[ôo] |
| /g/ | [g] | /ei/ | [ā],[āi],[āy],[eā],[èy],[èi] |
| /f/ | [f],[ph],[gh] | /i:/ | [ē],[ēe],[ēa],[ēi],[ēy],[iē],[ĩ] |
| /v/ | [v] | /ai/ | [ī],[ȳ] |
| /s/ | [s],[c] | /əu/ | [ō],[ōa],[ōw],[ōu],[e̊aù] |
| /z/ | [z],[ṡ] | /ju:/ | [ū],[ew̅],[eū] |
| /ð/ | [ṫh] | /u:/ | [oo],[oū],[õ] |
| /θ/ | [th] | /u/ | [ù],[oo(k)],[oo(d)] |
| /m/ | [m] | /a:/ | [àr],[à] |
| /n/ | [n] | /au/ | [òu],[òw] |
| /ŋ/ | [ng] | /eə/ | [ār],[āir],[āer] ,[eār],[er] |
| /l/ | [l] | /iə/ | [ēer],[ēar],[ēr] |
| /r/ | [r] | /aiə/ | [īr] |
| /h/ | [h] | /ɔ:/ | [or]=[ōr],[ōar],[ōur],[ōu(gh)],[ã(l)],[ãu],[ãw],[(w)ãr] |
| /w/ | [w] | /uə/ | [ūr] |
| /j/ | [y] | /ə/ | [e̊], [å], [i̊], [o̊],[ů], [o̊u(s)] |
| /ʃ/ | [sh],[ċh] | /ə:/ | [e̊r],[år],[i̊r],[o̊r],[ůr],[e̊ar],[o̊ur],[e̊ur] |
| /ʒ/ | [s̃] | /ɔi/ | [oi],[oẏ] |
| /tʃ/ | [ch],[tch] | ||
| /dʒ/ | [j],[g],[dg] |
Note: The IPA symbols marked in red in the original table are extra symbols invented by the IPA.
