What is S4 ?
The S4 (Simplified Standard Sound
Symbols) set is a cut-down version of the IPA
(International Phonetic Alphabet) set of sound symbols just
for mainstream American and British English (the IPA set can
be used for almost any language). It is mainly intended for
teaching English as a foreign language.
It has symbols for all the sounds (phonemes) of mainstream American and British speech.
S4 text is always written in blue, so that it can immediately be recognized as such.
A single vowel symbol indicates a vowel that is short, and a double one indicates a vowel that is long. Accordingly “Mrs” is written misiz and “Dursley” is written dəəzlii. Dark consonants are represented by an apostrophe, not by a line below them as in IPA notation. Accordingly, “normal” is written noom‛l
Stressed syllables are in bold text. Accordingly, “perfectly” is written pəəfiklii This can all be seen in the following example:
It has symbols for all the sounds (phonemes) of mainstream American and British speech.
S4 text is always written in blue, so that it can immediately be recognized as such.
A single vowel symbol indicates a vowel that is short, and a double one indicates a vowel that is long. Accordingly “Mrs” is written misiz and “Dursley” is written dəəzlii. Dark consonants are represented by an apostrophe, not by a line below them as in IPA notation. Accordingly, “normal” is written noom‛l
Stressed syllables are in bold text. Accordingly, “perfectly” is written pəəfiklii This can all be seen in the following example:
mistər ‛n misiz dəəzlii
əv na‛mbə foo privi draiv
wəə prau tə sei
ðæt ðei wəə pəəfiklii noom‛l
þæŋk yuu verii matʃ<b><font color="#3333ff">Teach Spoken English</font></b> <b><font color="#3333ff">Teach Spoken Engli</font></b>
S4 does not
cover the way English is pronounced in Ireland, New Zealand
etc., or the way my Great Aunt Madge who lived in Worthing
used to speak. If Cockney were to be covered, a Dark-W would
need to be added, as in li‛w
(for little).
The use of metalanguage has been kept to a minimum. It will not help an EFL teacher to know that a Dark-L is also called a “voiced velarized alveolar approximant ”.
To quote Voltaire mieux est l'ennemi du bien (better is the enemy of good enough).
Lastly, I have given the sounds names to make it easier to talk about them. I think that this is more straightforward than the lexical sets naming system devised by Professor of Phonetics John Wells.
The use of metalanguage has been kept to a minimum. It will not help an EFL teacher to know that a Dark-L is also called a “voiced velarized alveolar approximant ”.
To quote Voltaire mieux est l'ennemi du bien (better is the enemy of good enough).
Lastly, I have given the sounds names to make it easier to talk about them. I think that this is more straightforward than the lexical sets naming system devised by Professor of Phonetics John Wells.