Diction Help - Deciphering the IPA

Translation Dictionaries:

One of the easiest translation dictionaries for all the singing languages are the IFinger popup dictionaries.  Each dictionary contains tens of thousands of words from such publishers as Oxford, Pons, Zanichelli, and Webster. Other dictionaries used are the WordAce Taking Translation Dictionaries (no longer available for purchase), Easy Translator, and WordPoint all from Transparent Language. Quick translations can also be made using the Google translations and IM Translator-both of which are free and offer rough translation.

For a free Ecclesiastical Latin dictionary for your computer download William Whitaker's Words. In book form, the Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin by Leo Stelten is recommended.  

IPA on your computer

Italian: the best resource for Italian pronunciation is Lo Zingarelli published by Zanichelli. This is an Italian only dictionary but the CD-Rom version that now comes included with the book has an easy search engine which will find all word forms including verb conjugations. 

French: The source for the French language is the Robert - either the petit or grand. The smaller, Le Petit Robert, comes in CD-Rom and contains IPA - although not for all word forms. 

German:  Langenscheidt publishes several computer based dictionaries some are with IPA and others without. IPA Source uses the Langenscheidts Euro-Set with English, French, Italian, Spanish, and German. All have IPA but the translations from French, Italian, and Spanish are only to German. 

The information provided on these pages is from from Lyric Diction for Singers by Bard Suverkrop, a complete course for singers in Latin, Italian, German, and French diction. The texts contain rules, exercises, chapter worksheets, and song texts. The textbook is supported by a Website with PowerPoint presentations, chapter reviews, and sound examples. For more information, contact me using the contact tab at the top of the page.

Bard Suverkrop