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Adjectives
The following forms for comparative and superlative are regarded as regular and
are not shown in the dictionary:
• words of one syllable adding -er and -est , e.g. great → greater, greatest
• words of one syllable ending in silent e , which drop the -e and add -er and -est ,
e.g. brave → braver, bravest
• words which form the comparative and superlative by adding 'more' and 'most'
Other forms are given in the dictionary, notably for:
• adjectives which form the comparative and superlative by doubling a final
consonant, e.g. hot → hotter, hottest
• two-syllable adjectives which form the comparative and superlative with -er and -
est (typically adjectives ending in -y and their negative forms), e.g. happy →
happier, happiest; unhappy → unhappier, unhappiest
Pronunciations
Generally speaking, native speakers of English do not need information about the
pronunciation for ordinary, everyday words such as bake, baby, beach, bewilder,
boastful, or budget. For this reason, no pronunciations are given for such words
(or their compounds and derivatives) in the Oxford Dictionary of English . Words
such as baba ganoush, baccalaureate, beatific, bijouterie, bucolic, and
buddleia, on the other hand, are less familiar and may give problems. Similarly,
difficulties are often encountered in pronouncing names of people and places,
especially foreign ones, such as Chechnya, Kieslowski, and Althusser.
In the Oxford Dictionary of English , the principle followed is that pronunciations are
given where they are likely to cause problems for the native speaker of English, in
particular for foreign words, foreign names, scientific and other specialist terms,
rare words, words with unusual stress patterns, and words where there are
alternative pronunciations or where there is a dispute about the standard
pronunciation.
The Oxford Dictionary of English uses the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) to
represent the standard accent of English as spoken in the south of England
(sometimes called Received Pronunciation or RP). The transcriptions reflect
pronunciation as it actually is in modern English, unlike some longer-established
systems, which reflect the standard pronunciation of broadcasters and public
schools in the 1930s. It is recognized that, although the English of southern
England is the pronunciation given, many variations are heard in standard speech
in other parts of the English-speaking world.
The symbols used for English words, with their values, are given below. In multi-
syllable words the symbol ' is used to show that the following syllable is stressed
(as in k@"bal); the symbol % indicates a secondary stress (as in %kal@"bri;s).
Consonants: b , d , f , h , k , l , m , n , p , r , s , t , v , w , and z have their usual English
values. Other symbols are used as follows:
g
get
x
loch
Í
chip
N
ring
Ù jar
T
thin
Vowels
short vowels
long vowels
(; indicates length )
a
cat
A; arm
E
bed
E;
hair
@
ago
@;
her
I
sit
i;
see
i
cosy
O;
saw
Q
hot
u; too
V
run
U
put
D
this
j
yes
S
she
Z
decision
diphthongs
triphthongs
VI
my
VI@ fire
aU how
aU@ sour
eI
day
@U no
I@
near
OI
boy
U@ poor
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