Someone asked for help with phonetics in a previous thread and tdol directed them to a number of pages, in particular
http://www.usingenglish.com/handouts...mic-script.pdf.
Now, after going through the symbols employed in that page, I find there are a number of deviations from the commonly used IPA symbols to represent sounds in the English language.
1 - Judging from the chart, the quality of the back vowel in words like "rock" and "sort" is the same, differing only in quantity (length). In fact, according to most works, the quality of the vowel in "rock" is low back slightly rounded, whereas the quality of the vowel in "sort" is also back but higher.
2 - The chart uses different symbols to represent the sounds in "cup" and the first vowel in "butter" when most authors use the same symbol for both. The symbol chosen in the chart is the neutral schwa vowel, which (at least in RP) never occurs in stressed syllables.
3 - The starting point for the diphthong in "mouth" is given as the low back unrounded vowel. I've found that in most other works, the initial vowel in the diphthong is usually a more front vowel.
4 - The first element of the diphthong in "nose" is represented by a back, closed vowel. This is the case in General American, but not in RP, that uses a slightly rounded schwa as the first element in the diphthong.
5 - The symbol used to represent the last consonant in "sing" is the IPA symbol for a retroflex "n", not for the English velar "n" in "sing".
problem with phonetic symbols 
Linear Mode
