Oxford Dictionary of Pronunciation for Current English [Paperback]

Clive Upton (Author), William Kretzschmar Jr. (Author), Rafal Konopka (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0198607725 | ISBN-13: 978-0198607724 | Publication Date: October 16, 2003

The Oxford Dictionary of Pronunciation, now published in paperback, is the most up-to-date record of the pronunciation of British and American English. Based on research by a joint UK and US team of linguistics experts, with support from Oxford English Dictionaries, it is a unique survey of how English is really spoken in the twenty-first century. The dictionary offers a full reappraisal of the pronunciation models for modern British and American English. Whereas other pronunciation dictionaries use a model which is rooted in the speech of the middle of the last century, this dictionary presents a model of actual, modern English. It is also the most comprehensive dictionary of its type available, and the only one to give full transcriptions for British and American English for every word.

Editorial Reviews

Review

`...the presentational style of ODP offers us a stimulus to reconsider how this kind of information should be displayed in the future. It seems probable that in time ODP's more user-friendly way of setting out variants will prevail.' Journal of the INternational Phonetic Variation

About the Author

Dr. Clive Upton is based at the School of English, University of Leeds. Dr. William Kretzschmar is based at the Department of English, University of Georgia, USA. Rafal Konopka was formerly based at the University of Georgia, USA.

Product Details

• Paperback: 1232 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (October 16, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198607725
• ISBN-13: 978-0198607724
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,303,387 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Let me save you the trouble..., March 28, 2003

By 

Jmark2001 (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Oxford Dictionary of Pronunciation for Current English (Hardcover)

If you are looking for a pronunciation dictionary that is current, lists variants, discusses variants that have equal numbers of adherents, makes suggestions for preferred pronunciations, gives data about what percentage of people prefer such and such a pronunciation, and is attractively printed, do not get this one. This is plainly packaged, has very little explanatory information (Longman's has over 200 charts and many explanatory notes), gives no data as to who prefers what or how many, gives little direction, etc. A dull affair all around. The Longman Pronunciation Dictionary is multicolored, informative, and fascinating to read. When there are dramatic variants, Longman explains the issues clearly. Longman also includes a removable phonetics chart so you do not need to keep flipping to the key in the front of the book. I am a speech therapist and I find myself going to Longman on a daily basis while the Oxford dictionary sits on the shelf.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an excellent pronunuciation dictionary, October 18, 2007

By 

philevans "quinquin" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Oxford Dictionary of Pronunciation for Current English (Paperback)

The market for this type of dictionary is traditionally dominated by the umpteenths re-editions of Daniel Jones' dictionary, so much so that university phonetics instructors often seem not to know that there are others...Well, they should have a look at this one. Compared to the other new (and great) pronunciation dictionary, that of John Wells [published by Longman's], Clive Upton's dictionary does not have the articles, polls about variants, and other useful add-ons of John Wells' dictionary: what we have here is a basic (but comprehensive) dictionary with the pronunciation of each word given in British and American English. And that is all, but the transcription system is probably the most accurate of the three dictionaries. If you are a serious student of English phonetics, I would recommend having both John Wells' and Clive Upton 's dictionaries - Clive Upton's for immediate reference andd John Wells' if you want to go further. They complete each other nicely. You can safely forget about Daniel Jones' - even it is still recommended by most university instructors, who would be well-advised to update their reading lists at least once a century.