Customer Reviews

Oxford BBC Guide to Pronunciation

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We could use a few different dictionaries, compact ones, medium-sized ones, reference-sized ones, and perhaps, from different publishers; but most of us would not likely have more than one guide book on pronunciation. The Oxford BBC Guide to Pronunciation is probably the choice guide. Its 432 pages are packed neatly in a compact 12cm x 18cm dimension. It is arranged in alphabetical order but it includes proper names of people and places. We find Rudyard Kipling and Kisangani (a city in Congo) on the same page. Each word has a brief but adequate description. "Eowyn" is described as "character from ' The Lord of the Rings'" (and pronounced as "ay-oh-win"; the emphasis on "ay" is marked in bold). It also has short, page-length descriptions and explanations concerning the pronunciation of major languages such as German, French, and Portuguese. There is also a section the use of "clicks" in certain languages. The pronunciation guide is easy to use and so this book is unlikely to mystify the reader as to what how to pronounce the guide words or how to read the pronunciation symbols. Any disappointments? Well, "Ralph Fiennes" was not in it. John Gielgud's there though.

A useful and easy to use book. While the standard Oxford English Dictionary contains pronunciation in IPA it is neither as wide ranging or easy to use. One of the more useful things is the wide range of foreign pronunciation. Also its compact form means it is easy to keep at hand. A very good book for anyone who wants people to understand in professions where speech matters.