OE1.8 Weak and Lost Sounds

SPOKENENGLISH1PRONUNCIATION8:WEAKANDLOSTSOUNDS8.1.1:INTRODUCTION“Englishpeoplespeaksofast”,isoftenthecommentmadebynon-nativespeakers’andwhilemanystudentscanunderstandsentencesintheirwrittenformtheyoftenhavegreatdifficultyunderstandingnormalspeech.Inspokendiscourse,weadaptourpronunciationtoouraudienceandarticulatephonemeswithmaximaleconomyofmovementratherthanmaximalclarity.Asaresult,somesoundsarelostorweakenedourinattempttogetourmessageacross.8:WeakandLostSounds8.1.2:INTRODUCTIONEnglishspeakers,havewaysfordealingwiththeseindistinctutterancescausedthroughconnectedspeech.Rhythmisonereasonforthisbecausesomesoundsmustbeweakenedorcompressedinordertomaintaintheflowofspeech.Ifsoundsonisweakenedtoomuch,thentheymaychange,mixwithothersounds,ordisappearaltogether.ThisisanormaloccurrenceinspokenEnglishandoftengoesunnoticed.8:WeakandLostSounds8.2.1:SCHWA-THEWEAKVOWELIfasyllableisstressedstronglythensometimestheremainingvowelsaresometimesobscured.Vowelsintheunstressedsyllablesofstructurewordsoftenbecometheneutralvowelsound/ə/calledaschwa.ThisweakorcentralvowelisthemostimportantvowelinEnglish.Ifyouattempttopronounceeachvowelclearlythentherhythmandwillbelostandthewordsbecomelessunderstandable.8:WeakandLostSounds8.2.2:SCHWA-THEWEAKVOWELExample1:IfthewordGOLDENinthefollowingutterancewasanimportantwordinanutterance(emphatic),thenthe[e]wouldmostlikelypronounceas/e/sound.AUNIVERSITYEDUCATIONISAGOLD-DENOPPORTUNITYthe/e/sound▲8:WeakandLostSounds8.2.3:SCHWA-THEWEAKVOWELbutifthewordGOLDENwasnotanimportantword,then[e]wouldmostlikelyweakenedandpronouncedasaschwa/ə/.AU-NI-VER-SI-TYEDUCATIONISAGOLD-UHNOPPORTUNITYthe/ə/sound▲Ifyouthinkthereisavowelinawordbutyoucannothearexactlywhatitis,itisprobablyschwa8:WeakandLostSounds8.2.4:SCHWA-THEWEAKVOWELExample2:SHEWANTSTOGOTOCHI-NATOSEETHEGREATWALLButsomeoftheunstressedsyllablesreducedtoschwasandsoundlikeaweak[tuh],[thuh]and[nuh]Sowhatweactuallyhearis;SHEWANTSTUHGOTUHCHI.NUHTUHSEETHUHGREATWALLthe/ə/sounds----▲-----------▲------------▲------▲---------------▲8:WeakandLostSounds8.2.5:SCHWA-THEWEAKVOWELMoreExamples:IT’SNICETUHSEETHEMTUHGETHUHUHGAIN.SUDDUHNNOISESOFTUHNFRIGHTUHNMYDOG.KEVUHNSLEPTONTHUHSOFUH.THUHOTHUHSETOFPLATESISFINECHINUH.8:WeakandLostSounds8.3.1:ELISION-LOSTSOUNDSElisionistheunintentionalomissionofoneormoresoundsinaword,makingiteasierforthespeakertopronouncewordorphrase.WhenwritinginEnglishawordisalwaysspeltthesamebutinwhenspeakinginEnglishthepronunciationofawordcanhaveseveralbedifferentforms.Soifyoudon'tunderstandhowandwhysoundsarelostthenyoumaynotalwaysunderstandwhatyouarelisteningto8:WeakandLostSounds8.3.2:ELISION-LOSTSOUNDSThemostcommonelisioninEnglishoccurswhentheconsonants/t/and/d/theyappearinaconsonantcluster.CHRISTMASSANDWICHPOSTMANThesamethingcanoccuracrosswordboundariesasin:MUSTBETHEFIRSTTHREEYOUANDMENEXTWEEKLANDHOLDINGNOTNOWHerethe/h/soundwhichisalsooftendeletedasin:YOUSHOULDN’THAVETOLDHIM.8:WeakandLostSounds8.3.3:ELISION-LOSTSOUNDSComplexconsonantstructuresareoftensimplifiedasin:SHEACTSASIFSHEOWNSTHEPLACEOtherexamplesofconsonantelisionwouldbe:COMFORTABLE/kʌɱfɚtəbəl//kʌɱftɚbəl/FIFTH/fɪfθ//fɪθ/8:WeakandLostSounds8.3.4:ELISION-LOSTSOUNDSWeakvowelsoundsthataretrappedbetweentwoconsonantssoundscanalsodisappearespeciallywhenitisaschwa,suchas:TONIGHTLIBRARYHISTORYINTERESTDIFFERENTPOLICEMANInotherwordstheSchwahasweakenedsomuchthatithaselided.8:WeakandLostSounds8.3.5:ELISION-LOSTSOUNDSThe[i]cansometimesbespokensoquietlythatitdisappearscompletely.Apersonmayintendtosay.HOWMUCHISIT.Butitsoundslike:HOWMUCHSIT.OtherexamplesofvowelelisionwouldbeTEMPERATUREVEGETABLE8:WeakandLostSounds8.3.6:ELISION-LOSTSOUNDSAndfinallythe/v/candisappearin[of],beforeaconsonant.Complexconsonantstructuresareoftensimplifiedasinasin:MYBIRTHDAYISONTHE11THOFNOVEMBER.IT’SACOMPLETEWASTEOFTIMEOFCOURSEYOUCANDOIT8:WeakandLostSounds8.4.1:FORMALCONTRACTIONSTheelidedwordsorphrasesmaybecomeastandardalternativeforthefullform,ifusedoftenenough.Thisiscalledacontraction.Contractionsdifferfromanelisioninthattheyarerecognisedascompletewords,whereaselisionsarenotWhenEnglishisspokenquicklyshortenformsofwordsareoftenusedwhereoneormorelettershavebeenomitted.Whenwritingthesewordsweuseanapostrophetoindicatewherethemissingletterswere.8:WeakandLostSounds8.4.2:FORMALCONTRACTIONSHerearesomeofthecommonestexamples,withtheirun-contractedequivalents:IT'SitisorithasWE'LLwewillorweshallTHEY'VEtheyhaveCAN'TcannotHE'DhewouldorhehadAREN'TarenotWON'Twillnot8:WeakandLostSounds8.4.3:FORMALCONTRACTIONSIneverydayspokenEnglish,theverb'tobe'andotherauxiliaryverbsareoftencontracted.Inotherwords,oneormoresoundsareomittedtomaketheflowofspeecheasier.Acontractionisashorterformofpronouncingwords–especiallyunstressedstructurewords.TheycanbeusedinformalspeechbutNOTinformaloracademicwriting.8:WeakandLostSounds8.4.4:FORMALCONTRACTIONSContractionswithPronouns:amI'MworkingthismorningisIT'SeasyareYOU'REagreatfriendhasSHE'SlivedthereallherlifehaveI'VEfinishedmyhomeworkhadWE'DbetterbegoingwillWE'LLbetheresoonwouldTHEY'Dlovetoaskyousomequestions8:WeakandLostSounds8.4.5