ABSTRACT
The 18th century marks the beginning of a widespread interest in English pronunciation, especially in 'correct' pronunciation, and also the appearance of the first pronouncing dictionaries, designed to satisfy this interest. Attempts to record pronunciation in dictionary entries led naturally to the need for a system of notation. At first, the devices used to record pronunciation were inexact, incomplete, and often confusing. But by the end of the century, the diacritical system approximately as we know it in our modern dictionaries had been worked out. Bert Emsley, in his article Progress in Pronouncing Dictionaries (Am. Sp. 15.55), has outlined the development of this system; the present paper studies the 18th century in more detail, and indicates to the student of 18th-century pronunciation what help he can expect from various dictionaries of the time.
