III.PRONUNCIATION
The basic principle underlying the suggested pronunciations is“If you pronounce it like this, most people will understand you.” The pronunciations are therefore broadly based on the two most widely taught accents of English, GenAm or General American for American English, and RP or Received Pronunciation for British English.
For the majority of words, a single pronunciation is given, as most differences between American and British pronunciation are systematic. Where the usual British pronunciation differs from the usual American pronunciation more significantly, a separate transcription is given after the code BRIT. Where more than one pronunciation is common in either American or British English, alternative pronunciations are given.
The pronunciations are the result of a program of monitoring spoken English and consulting leading reference works. The transcription system has developed from original work by Dr David Brazil for the Collins COBUILD English Language Dictionary. The symbols used in the dictionary are adapted from those of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), as standardized in the English Pronouncing Dictionary by Daniel Jones (14th Edition, revised by AC Gimson and SM Ramsaran 1988).