Learnenglish  +  587764 Sat, 15 Nov 08 09:18 AM Dear Teacher,       When I read English, I meet some knids of abbreviations and signs.  How to read all kinds of abbreviations?  Could we read their letters one by one?  For example, the abbreviation of Maryland is MD, Can we read MD?  pp.160?  How to pronounce the sign & when we meet in a sentence?      Thanks in advance. Learnenglish Joined on Wed, Aug 1 2007 New Member 42 Abbreviations

	sumryan  +  587786 Sat, 15 Nov 08 11:59 AM When you encounter abbreviations such as MD (Maryland) or DE (Delaware) you should pronounce the entire word. Same with pp. for page or pages.  However, when you encounter initialisms; abbreviations consisting of the first letter or letters of words in a phrase like ATM for Automatic Teller Machine, or USA for United States of America you should pronounce it by spelling out the letters one by one. The last letter receives more emphasis than the other letters. sumryan Joined on Wed, Jul 2 2008 New Member 09 Susan Ryan, English Pronunciation Instructor Pronunciation, Spelling, Abbreviations

	Learnenglish  +  587792 Sat, 15 Nov 08 01:26 PM Thank you.  When I read English, especially novels, I encounter a lot of two-word combinations and they are linked at random, so I cannot find them in English dictinonaries and don't know if they are compound words, such as legal-looking, pen-and-pencil set, fume-spewing, mock-Spanish, palm-planted, glass-enclosed, and so on.  Are they compound words?  Why?  Where are the primary stresses and the secondary ones?  I have found in many English dictionaries the compound words which is separated are not marked with primary stress and secondary stress.  How should I pronounce them (stresses)?  How could I deal wiht them? Thanks in advance. Learnenglish