I'd like to quote Prof. Dr. Gibbon to explain the terms metalanguage and object language:
'Ich spreche Deutsch als Metasprache um Englisch als Objektsprache zu erklären.'
- applied on dictionaries this means:
•metalanguage: layout, typography...
•object language: dictionary entries, spelling and pronunciation
Representation of sounds:
Phonemes: smallest word-distinguishing unit of a word Allophone: different realisations of one phoneme
There are two types of transcription:
- narrow phonetic transcription: gives all phonetic details of sound (allophones)
- broad phonemic transcription: gives as many phonemic details as needed
In dictionaries the representation of sounds is presented by a broad phonemic transcription in order to give just as much information as needed to realise the pronunciation of a word or to distinguish between words.
- representations of sounds (phones) in IPA chart
Syllable: word-distinguishing phoneme configuration
- basic structure CCCVVCCC (C→consonants,V→ vowel)
HOWEVER
- affricates such as // and // are counted as one phoneme!
Spelling-to-sound rules:
Example for the difficulties of spelling and pronunciation:
- ghoti → / /
because
- <gh> in enough → //
- <o> in women → //
- <ti> in nation → //
/ and /
