Are pronunciation guides possible?
After reading the eloquent arguments of linguist, Adam Brown [JSSS J27/2000/1], I came away almost convinced that a dictionary pronunciation guide was impossible. Brown’s intention was to explain why it was impossible to specify the exact number of phonemes [2] in English. He expanded on my [3/1999] article where I gave examples of phoneme estimates from 36 to 62. I suggested that, while 46 [21v 25c] was a adequate number of phonemes to describe English speech, the only number that people would be likely to agree on would be the number of uncombined phonemes. I thought there could be agreement on 14 pure vowels and 22 pure consonants. [2] As shown in the analysis of dialects below, the exact distribution of these vowels and their allophones can depend on the dialect. [see Northern & Southern English] Brown doubted the possibility of even limited agreement. He added that if the exact number of vowels cannot be established, then speech sounds cannot be visualized … and the alphabetical
