According to the help file, CEPD on CD-ROM "is the complete electronic version of this classic English pronunciation guide." Though the CD-ROM's User's Guide (p. 4) asserts that it "contains all the entries in the printed book and much more," it should be noted that the eighty-seven "information" panels and the twenty-six "Pronouncing the letter ..." panels that start each letter section in the printed version do not appear here. The former provide a wealth of information on a variety of phonetic issues, from "Abbreviations" to "Weak forms"; the latter contain the much needed summary advice on common grapho-phonemic correspondences of English. For some reason the user of the electronic version of the dictionary is deprived of access to these sections of the traditional hard-copy edition. The twenty-page introduction to the printed CEPD, with such sections as "Whose pronunciation is represented?," "Principles of transcription," and "The International Phonetic Alphabet," is also absent. [-1-]
Longman Pronunciation Dictionary 3rd ed. 2008 utorrent
The CEPD is obviously an excellent didactic resource in the field of EFL/ESL. However, there are some problems with the design and functionality of the CD-ROM, which are in part unavoidable teething pains for this new baby of Cambridge University Press and TEXTware A/S, yet some of which reflect more systematic flaws of current electronic lexicography. After all, CEPD is not the first electronic dictionary to feature phonetic transcription, audio recordings or listen-record-compare exercises. In my review of Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners (Sobkowiak, 2003), for example, I analysed some common weaknesses such as: audio-transcription mismatches, IPA screen rendition problems, limited and/or confusing representation of phonostylistic variation (due to different accents and tempos of speech), Sound Search and Pronunciation Practice functionality problems, and unused potentials. While not the first electronic dictionary, CEPD is the first electronic pronunciation dictionary on CD-ROM, so naturally any phonetic weaknesses in its design and implementation are immediately thrown into especially sharp focus. These will be reviewed in the next section.
Designing the user interface for an electronic dictionary is no small task. All of linguistic, lexicographic, psychological and computational issues come into play to form a knot of conflicting demands and preferences. The challenge of making an electronic pronouncing dictionary is of course even greater; not only because of the multimedia (which is by now taken for granted by dictionary users), but because in the absence of all the semantic information, so prominent in an ordinary dictionary, the phonetic issues come to the foreground, with all the complexities outlined here. In this context, CEPD on CD-ROM is to be seen as a remarkable achievement of phono-lexicography. Most of the flaws detailed in this review can be easily remedied before the next edition appears, and those which might not will certainly continue to provide food for thought and research to metalexicographers and phoneticians. In the meantime learners and teachers of English pronunciation will be using this resource to great benefit.
The online dictionary has by far the best frequency list.It also has a box where you can paste items from the list and it hyperlinks the words to immediaterecorded pronunciation. Just copy and paste from the "Frequencies" page to the "Read" page. It actually contains pronunciations for almost all of the first 1000, and most of the first 2000. The entire frequency list can be downloaded at the bottom of the "Frequencies page".The anonymous creators of the site have done an enormous job to advance Khmer learning.
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