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A Guide To Phonetic Transcription in Afrikaans

This document provides guidance on phonetic transcription in Afrikaans using the International Phonetics Alphabet (IPA). It notes that phonetic transcription focuses only on what sounds are heard and does not follow conventional spelling or punctuation rules. The document recommends resources on phonetic transcription and IPA charts, and provides an example of transcribing an Afrikaans recording into IPA. It emphasizes transcribing only the sounds heard rather than following standard spellings.

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Shane Meier
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331 views2 pages

A Guide To Phonetic Transcription in Afrikaans

This document provides guidance on phonetic transcription in Afrikaans using the International Phonetics Alphabet (IPA). It notes that phonetic transcription focuses only on what sounds are heard and does not follow conventional spelling or punctuation rules. The document recommends resources on phonetic transcription and IPA charts, and provides an example of transcribing an Afrikaans recording into IPA. It emphasizes transcribing only the sounds heard rather than following standard spellings.

Uploaded by

Shane Meier
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
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A GUIDE TO PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION IN AFRIKAANS

This document aims to explain how to transcribe an audio text using the International
Phonetics Alphabet (IPA).
Remember the following:

 phonetic transcription is exclusively about what you hear


 conventional spelling rules do not apply (capitalisation, single and double consonants)
 punctuation rules do not apply (full stops, commas, question marks)
 ignore abbreviations
 ignore the Latin/Roman alphabet (the one we use to write in Afrikaans and English)
→ Use the following two documents to help you with your transcription:
Notes on Phonetic Transcription Quick Guide to Finding Phonetic
Symbols

Notes on phonetic Quick Guide to


transcription.pdf Finding Phonetic Symbols in MS Word.pdf

→ Also use the following consonant and vowel charts:


Consonant Chart Vowel Chart

→ Let us now listen to the following voice recording. It is normal to listen to the recording
repeatedly.

→ Let us now transcribe:

 We start by inserting one square bracket: [


 We then focus on the first word: ja:pi -- even though I recognise that this is a proper
noun, I don’t write it with a capital letter <J>. I also insert a colon <:>, because it sounds
to me as if the [a] vowel is slightly long. I recognise two syllables in this word.
 We now focus on the next two words: et xra:x -- both words consist of a single syllable
each. The second word starts and end with the silent velar fricative [x] and the [a] vowel
is also slightly long.
 The next word: kɔmkɔmərs -- this word has three syllables. The first two syllables
contain the short back [ɔ] vowel, followed by the voiced bilabial nasal [m]. Pay attention
to the fact that the transcription does not contain any double consonants similar to the
Latinised spelling: <komkommers>. The last syllable contains a schwa [ə].
 The next word: fər -- one syllable, which starts with a silent labiodental fricative [f]
followed by a schwa and ending on a slightly voiced alveolar trill [r]. The [r] is almost
not audible, which could render a [fə] transcription instead.
 The last word: məraxetə -- this word has four syllables, but could easily be transcribed
as two separate words, each containing two syllables: mərax etə. The first syllable
contains a schwa and the second syllable sounds like it starts with an almost silent
alveolar trill [r]. This syllable end on a velar fricative [x]. The second word (or third
syllable) starts with a longer closed front vowel [e] and ends in the last syllable with a
schwa. Note once again that the transcription contains no double consonant.
 We now end the transcription with another square bracket: ]
→ The complete transcription will look like this:

[ja:pi et xra:x kɔmkɔmərs fə məraxetə]

→ There are many differences between the phonetic transcription and the Latinised
version of this recording. For the phonetic transcription, I only record the sounds that I
hear. One of the golden rules in transcription: if a certain sound is not made or heard, then
it doesn’t exist in that recording. The same applies for sounds that you observe. If you hear
something, even if it might seem strange, then you record it in your transcription. The word
<middag> is spelt conventionally with a double consonant <d>, but in the transcription the
word is pronounced with an <r>. Transcriptions help us discover the variety of ways in
which words are spoken and, ultimately, it tells us something about the meaning of those
words within sentences.

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