From SpeechWiki

Transription guidelines

Checklist

Before starting an utterance

• Make sure to have the phone-to-feature mappings, these instructions, and Heejin's Praat-specific guidelines handy.
• Open the utterance in Praat.
• Write down the time.

To keep in mind during transcription

• The detailed guidelines below and Heejin's guidelines (to be merged into one document at some point).
• The boundaries in the initial .wd transcription may have errors. Do not feel bound by them.
• The final transcription should give enough information so that the speaker, by looking at the transcription, could recreate the acoustics exactly. More on this in the detailed guidelines below.
• Go for accuracy over speed. But if you are very unsure about a segment, use "?" or multiple labels (e.g. "FRIC/APP").
• Don't worry about exact boundaries up to +/- 20ms. I.e. if you find yourself unsure about a boundary location, but the uncertainty is within +/- 20ms, place the boundary somewhere in the appropriate range and move on.
• Use the .cm tier to mark anything problematic or that should be discussed.
• Use the menus to label feature tiers, rather than typing in, unless you are marking an unusual/uncertain segment (e.g. with "?" or multiple labels).
• It's OK to use some deductive reasoning. E.g. if the intended sound is [b] but the actual segment is a fricative, it is probably a LAB, FRIC and not a [v] (L-D, FRIC).