Merriam-Webster Online Breaks Through Sound Barrier
New Audio Pronunciations at www.Merriam-Webster.com
SPRINGFIELD, MASS., June 2001 — Listen up! Merriam-Webster is creating a real sound blast this month. The company's award-winning Web site, Merriam-Webster OnLine (www.Merriam-Webster.com), is adding a new audio feature to its online version of the best-selling Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary. Now when site visitors see a red audio icon next to an entry word, they may click on it to hear the word pronounced by real voices. Multiple icons will be displayed when variant pronunciations are available. Thousands of words—many reflecting the latest developments in technology, social topics, and the sciences—may now be heard as well as seen, allowing users to explore and improve a full spectrum of both written and verbal communication skills.
Merriam-Webster forged the way in delivering language information online in 1996 by offering free Internet access to its products, including complete, searchable versions of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary and Collegiate® Thesaurus. Today, traffic on the site has grown to more than 30 million page views a month. Aside from easy access to the dictionary and thesaurus, Merriam-Webster OnLine offers a host of features for language lovers, including the popular Word of the Day, word games, and transcripts from Word for the Wise, a radio program broadcast daily on public radio stations nationwide.
Along with the new audio feature, thousands of helpful links to related entries have been added, making Merriam-Webster OnLine the Internet's best and most up-to-date resource for information about the words we use in every aspect of our lives. Enhancing the site with audio pronunciations not only gives these words a new vitality—it makes fostering a love of language at www.Merriam-Webster.com easier and more fun than ever before.
Merriam-Webster, Incorporated
Merriam-Webster Inc. acquired the rights to revise and publish Noah Webster's dictionaries in 1843. Since then, Merriam-Webster has maintained
an ongoing commitment to innovation, scholarship, and love of language. Today, the company continues as the leader in both print and
electronic language reference publishing, with reference products, learning tools, and word games.
