Why doesn't the International Phonetic Alphabet become the universal alphabet?
Q. Wouldn't this make it easier for us to learn languages that have different alphabets? I'm sure that it would be easier to learn Chinese using the phonetic alphabet than it is to learn Chinese using their writing system. I realize that spelling is going to be different depending on the dialect you speak. Is that really a big issue though? I understand British people perfectly even though they pronounce words differently than I do.
Asked by Joeyyowee - Fri Sep 12 01:34:21 2008 - - 2 Answers - 0 Comments

A. No way! There are hundreds of homophones in Chinese that can only be distinguished by the fact that they are written with different characters. Writing Japanese with IPA would be difficult as well, kanji is an essential part of the language. And then there's the issue of how to spell the word with IPA, since each region of a given country has different ways of pronouncing things. Latin american Spanish loses some of the sounds in Spanish Spanish, and vice versa. Would we spell every single word differently depending on who the speaker is? You would have to come up with a standardized spelling system, and then the point of IPA, being able to represent everything phonetically, is lost. Above all, writing systems are a huge part of… [cont.]
Answered by Bostezo - Fri Sep 12 01:40:50 2008

international phonetic alphabet?
Q. i'm taking first year university linguistics and i was wondering if anyone had any tips/tricks to memorizing the international phonetic alphabet and what sounds each of the symbols make. it's so confusing 'cause most of the symbols are similar to the regular english alphabet and there are so many little parts to it that you have to make sure you put in :(
Asked by gee - Sat Oct 4 21:27:15 2008 - - 1 Answers - 0 Comments

A. I could not find a single shortcut to memorize. Even the Periodic Table in chemistry has little memory aids..
Answered by Ed Atun - Sun Oct 12 18:06:52 2008

What is the best way to teach myself IPA?
Q. I am studying voice, and as a student of voice, I must take four semesters of diction classes (one each for English, Italian, French, and German). Since I know all of these languages already, I think this is somewhat unnecessary. All I really need to learn is how to apply the International Phonetic Alphabet to these languages. I would like to teach myself IPA so I can test out of these classes. What book, website, or program should I use to learn IPA, and what are good review methods?
Asked by bisous148 - Fri Mar 2 16:10:19 2007 - - 2 Answers - 0 Comments

A. I took a Phonetics course at UVM. We used the text "A Course in Phonetics" by Peter Ladefoged. I guess he is basically the leader in phonetic advances and transcriptions. The book is pretty helpful, and obviously includes description of symbols used in languages other than English... Good luck!
Answered by Kourtney cheer - Fri Mar 2 16:16:23 2007