READY!!??
HERE WE GO!!
First we would talking about spelling. If you can't spell the words or even spelt it worng you wouldn't find the words you were looking for right?
There are still problems facing dictionary compilers. For example, words are listed in a dictionary in alphabetical order. But if a person does not know how to spell a word, how can they look it up?
This is an intractable problem for traditional dictionaries but on-line dictionaries have a solution. Many on-line dictionaries allow you to write in just the letters you know and it will return all the words with those letters in the positions you specify.
You may then select the word you need. For example, let's suppose you don't know the order of the "i" and the "e" in the word receive. Go to the dictionary search box on the top right of this page, type in "rec??ve" and see what happens.
You can also use this technique for writing poetry. Let's say you want a word that rhymes with bottle. Type in ?ottle and see what you get. Of course, this method isn't perfect because sound and spelling do not perfectly correlate, but it may get you the word you want.
Then we would step into the pronunciation....
The problem facing traditional dictionaries in conveying the correct pronunciation of a word is that they lack the basic requisite: sound. To get around this shortcoming, dictionary compilers invent a standard alphabet that, unlike the real alphabet, is consistent.
That is, in the consistent alphabet, "i" is always pronounced like the "i" in bit, fit, quit but not in kite or vaccine. Try Newbury House's dictionary by typing in bicycle and see if you can read the pronunciation symbols between slashes (/ . . ./).
Linguists have created such an alphabet called the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). It is a consistent symbols system, where one sound is represented by one symbol and vice versa that applies to all the world's languages.
However, dictionary makers do not want to inconvenience dictionary users with learning a new alphabet, so most of them invent their own, trying to stick as close to the unworkable English pairing system as possible.
The result is as many different pronunciation systems as there are dictionaries. Compare WWWebster's rendition of the pronunciation of bicycle /'bI-si-k&l/ with that of Wordsmyth: /bai sih kEl/. Only the Newbury House and Cambridge dictionaries take advantage of the accuracy of the IPA.
Another problem with pronunciation is that there are often several different pronunciations of words. This is a particular problem in English, where great differences in pronunciation exist between US (with its Brooklyn, Southern, and other dialects), British, Australian, and other variants. How do you pronounce aunt or either.
Even in the US, educated people pronounce these words differently. Ask someone to pronounce interrupt for you (show it to them written). Do you hear the first "t". The word is pronounced correctly with and without the first "t" and the final one is often dropped before certain consonants (e.g. interrupt the teacher). Capturing all these variations in one book is difficult; deciding which ones to omit is even more difficult.
The solution to the problem is audio files reproducing the actual pronunciation, now available to electronic dictionaries. The first dictionary to produce an audio solution to the pronunciation problem is the
The 4th edition of the American Heritage Dictionary, yourDictionary's choice for its Quick Lookup, now has this feature, available only on electronic dictionaries. All dictionaries still provide a symbol system for pronunciation: ours * Newbury House (IPA) * Cambridge
This time is a little bit too long for someone to read but please at least skip something that's not important then find some keywords from it you would get an idea about spelling and pronunciation and probably understand it better. >///<
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