Providing audio alongside pronunciation transcripts allows OED users to both hear and read the pronunciations (representative image)
Since 2016, the OED has expanded its pronunciation coverage for numerous global varieties of English
Pronunciation transcripts and audios for over 800 entries associated with Indian English, including words such as ‘desh’ (country), ‘bachcha’ (a child), ‘diya’ (a small bowl-shaped oil lamp), ‘almirah’ (wardrobe), and ‘ bindaas’ (in bold), are now available in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).
Since 2016, the OED has expanded its pronunciation coverage for numerous global varieties of English. For those words that have region-specific uses or meanings (for example, New Zealand, Scots, or Caribbean English), the dictionary has added a region-specific pronunciation in addition to the British and American pronunciations that are provided by default throughout the dictionary. Indian English brings the total number of global varieties covered in the OED rulings to sixteen. By providing audio in addition to pronunciation transcripts, OED users can both hear and read the pronunciations. This latest addition to the World English Pronunciation audio archive fills a big gap for India’s 130 million Indian English speakers.
The audio for each region-specific word was recorded by a speaker from that region, following a pronunciation model based on recent phonetic research, pronunciation models, and the expertise of native speakers.
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Dr. Catherine Sangster, Pronunciation Editor for the OED, says: “Since we began expanding and including audio in our coverage of pronunciations for varieties of English in addition to British and American English, Indian English has been one of our top priorities and an of our greatest challenges. I am pleased that we have developed a transcription model to capture its complexity and can now provide pronunciations for this all-important variety of English in the OED.”
Dr. Matthew Moreland, Senior Consultant Phonetics Editor at Oxford Languages, and Lecturer in Phonetics at the University of East Anglia, says: Naturalization and the ways in which speakers of different languages and cultures interact. The resulting transcription model is a celebration of the glorious sounds and combinations of sounds that have melded together in such a rich and fascinating way that together make Indian English unique.”
Danica Salazar, World English Editor for the Oxford English Dictionary says: “The addition of Indian English pronunciations to the OED is an important step forward in documenting the lexicon of a variety spoken by such a large portion of the world’s English-speaking population . It makes the OED an even more useful tool for those looking to research world varieties of English.”
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