A Study of Phonetic Transcription Differences in U-Dictionary Application and Google Translator

Abstract

This research aims to identify the differences in phonetic transcription between the U-Dictionary application and Google Translate, with a specific focus on diphthongs. A descriptive qualitative design was employed to analyze the data. Data were collected through documentation from both translation platforms and analyzed using the interactive model consisting of four stages: data collection, data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing/verification. The findings reveal significant discrepancies in the phonetic notation systems used by the two applications. U-Dictionary consistently adopts the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) standards for all diphthong entries. In contrast, Google Translate utilizes a simplified phonetic respelling system, specifically the American Heritage Dictionary (AHD) standard. These results suggest that while U-Dictionary maintains academic precision, Google Translate prioritizes intuitive pronunciation for general users.