3.1.6: Pronunciation

What it means

Provide a way to identify pronunciation of ambiguous words — by context, ruby text, audio, or a pronunciation guide — when meaning depends on how a word is said. Homographs like “read” (present vs past) may need help.

Most content is fine from context; act when ambiguity changes meaning.

How to fix it

• Add pronunciation guides for names and terms that readers may misread.
• Use ruby annotations or phonetic spelling where ambiguity matters.
• Link to audio clips for difficult proper nouns when needed.
• Clarify heteronyms in surrounding sentence context.

Quick examples

• Good: A biography includes phonetic spelling for an unusual name.
• Bad: Lead (metal) and lead (guide) are used with no contextual clue in the same list.
• Good: Language-learning content marks stress patterns on words.
• Bad: Medical terms that share spelling but differ in stress are unexplained.