AP Pronunication

Guides
Client Relationship Management-Standard Operating Procedures
Using the AP pronunciation guide helps us to
bring consistency and clarity to the way we
represent sounds on paper and helps prevent
pronunciation errors.
How to write a pronunciation guide
Listen to the word and repeat it to yourself. Breaking the word into syllables, write down the
sounds you hear represented by the AP phonetic symbols (see chart below in parentheses.
!rite the syllable of emphasis in all caps. "eparate each syllable with a hyphen.
Examples:
Apple (AP#uhl
$ather ($A%#thur
%ot (haht
$ar (fahr
%arm (hahrm
Burden (BU&#den
Begin (bee#'()
Vowels:
a###apple, bat
ah###father, hot
ar###far, harm
aw###law, long
ay###ace, fate
e ###bed
ehr###merry
ee###see, tea
i###pin, middle
oh###go, oval
oo###food, two
or###for, torn
ow###cow
oy###boy
u###foot, put
uh###puff
Consonants:
g###got, beg
*###gem, *ob
k###cap, keep
ch###chair
s###see
sh###shut
y###yes
+###+oom
th###theater
th###there
Consonants not
listed here are
represented solely by
their letter, as in
(LET-ur).
AP Pronunciation Guides
Revised: 07/16/14
/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_1/23!10717"doc
Client Relationship Management-Standard Operating Procedures
,o verify that you have written the pronunciation guide correctly, always repeat the word back to
yourself, paying special attention to the syllable of emphasis.
When to use a pronunciation guide
!hen there is any doubt about how a word should be pronounced, or if you know there
is more than one acceptable pronunciation, always use a pronunciation guide (P'. Be
careful with proper names- the pronunciation might seem obvious to you, but there still
may be more than one way to say it. $or e.ample, there is a city called, %ouston
(%/00#stuhn, and there is another city named %ouston, but pronounced (%0!#stuhn.
1Bowie2 may look like it3s pronounced (B0%#ee or (B0!#ee, but it3s pronounced
(B00#ee. ,he pronunciation of a proper name doesn3t always follow the rules of
phonetics, so more often than not, verify the pronuniciation.
!hen verifying the pronunciation of proper names with the client, always call so you can
hear the name being pronounced. )ever trust a client3s representation of sounds on
paper, because they are not using the same system we use.
,o verify the pronunciation of medical terms, use the !ebster3s 4edical 5ictionary
which should be installed on your desktop or www.m#w.com. Listen to the audio
pronunciation and write a guide using the AP system. 5on3t use the written
pronunication guide in the dictionary because they aren3t using the same system we
are.
AP Pronunciation Guides
Revised: 07/16/14
/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_1/23!10717"doc