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When should one use slashes or square brackets when transcribing in IPA?

up vote 14 down vote favorite

When should one use /fubar/ and when [fubar] when transcribing in IPA? What are the differences?

2 Answers

up vote 4 down vote accept

[fubar] is used for phonetic transcriptions (emphasizing what is actually articulated) and /fubar/ for phonological transcriptions (emphasizing what is phonologically contrastive).

For example [pʰɛʔts] vs /pets/ (or even /petz/) with the implication that former is predictable from the latter using phonological rules.

up vote 3 down vote

Typically, use slashes for broad [phonemic] transcriptions and brackets for narrow [phonetic] transcriptions.

I hope that I got that right.

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When should one use slashes or square brackets when transcribing in IPA?

up vote 14 down vote

When should one use /fubar/ and when [fubar] when transcribing in IPA? What are the differences?

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up vote 9 down vote

[fubar] is used for phonetic transcriptions (emphasizing what is actually articulated) and /fubar/ for phonological transcriptions (emphasizing what is phonologically contrastive).

For example [pʰɛʔts] vs /pets/ (or even /petz/) with the implication that former is predictable from the latter using phonological rules.

edit

@LouisRhys in English, there are no cases where alternating [pʰ] and [p] changes the meaning of an utterance. Which one is articulated is entirely predictable from the context and so many theories models this as a single /p/. /p/ and /b/ contrast because, for example, /pat/ and /bat/ are different words. [pʰ] and [p] do not contrast at this level. - James Tauber Sep 20 '11 at 6:40

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