which pronunciation for clarity is more popular?

Share on Facebook

Kooyeen

#351183 Sun, 15 Apr 07 06:23 PM

To sum up, I think clarity could be pronounced three ways (and also somewhere in between this three ways):

1 - /klærəti/
2 - /klɛrəti/
3 - /klerəti/ --> http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/clarity
carrot: /kerət/ --> http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/carrot

NB: t's can be tapped, r's are not trills or course.

I used to pronounce words like that as #1, now I use #3.

Kooyeen

Joined on Thu, Dec 22 2005

Italy

Senior Member (4,044)

If you don't have a sense of humor already, it's about time you buy one.

Pronunciation

Marvin A.

#351199 Sun, 15 Apr 07 07:13 PM

Kooyeen, there is something that you should know. While it is true that North American English has tense-lax neutralization before /r\/, thus [klerə4i] and [klɛrə4i] are heard as the same, I would say that most speakers of General American English, use a vowel closer to [ ɛ ] , so why did you decided to switch to #3 instead of #3? Btw, since you do have a Western accent, and many Westerners have the CVS, and those that don't have it seldom notice it in others speech, #1 would also be acceptable. But for General American, I would say that the best option is probably #2.

Marvin A.

Joined on Fri, Dec 8 2006

Regular Member (638)

Vowels, Accents, American English, Pronunciation, Tenses

Conchita57

#351266 Sun, 15 Apr 07 10:12 PM

Marvin A. wrote:
But for General American, I would say that the best option is probably #2.

What is No. 2? I only get to see little squares in place of the 'vital' symbols!

Conchita57

Joined on Sat, Mar 10 2007

Madrid, Iberian Peninsula

Full Member (315)

In the beginning was the word.

Pronunciation

CalifJim

#351267 Sun, 15 Apr 07 10:14 PM

most speakers of General American English, use a vowel closer to [ ɛ ] , [Marvin, I just can't agree here.] so why did you decided to switch to #3 instead of #3? [Did you mean "instead of #2?"] Btw, since you do have a Western accent, and many Westerners have the CVS, and those that don't have it seldom notice it in others speech, #1 would also be acceptable. But for General American, I would say that the best option is probably #2. [And I can't agree here, sorry! I think #3 is best (lax e), #1 is OK (lax a), #2 is the least good (schwa). I'm taking #2 as the case where "clarity" or "charity" or "hilarity" would nearly rhyme with "purity", which strikes me as 'way off'.]

Why shouldn't a student use the pronunciation given in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary? (#3).

CJ

CalifJim

Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004

California

Veteran Member (17,566)

"There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche

Vowels, Accents, American English, Pronunciation

Marvin A.

#351294 Sun, 15 Apr 07 11:15 PM

>> And I can't agree here, sorry! I think #3 is best (lax e), #1 is OK (lax a), #2 is the least good (schwa). I'm taking #2 as the case where "clarity" or "charity" or "hilarity" would nearly rhyme with "purity", which strikes me as 'way off'. <<

Hmm. I think we must be seeing totally different symbols or referring to different numbers or something. That's not at all what I saw...

The #1 that I saw was with ash.
#2 was lax "e"
#3 was tense "e"

So, the way that I saw was that he was going to switch from ash to a tense "e", and I was saying that although tense and lax distinctions are usually neutralized before "r", a lax "e" sounded more natural to me. I also pointed out that ash is also a valid pronunciation (as it is the one that I use).

Marvin A.

Pronunciation, Numbers, Tenses

Kooyeen

#351300 Sun, 15 Apr 07 11:23 PM

Ok, this thread is becoming a mess, it was my fault, I'm so sorry...
Well, let's try to distinguish those sounds, with the help of some audio files:

IPA / æ /
XSAMPA / { /
Example: cat /kæt/ - http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cat

IPA / ɛ /
XSAMPA / E /
Example: bet /bɛt/ - http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bet

IPA / e /
XSAMPA / e /
Example: may /mei/ (starting sound in the diphthong) - http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/may

Additional examples. Notice the difference between æ, ɛ , e.
PLAY - I always say /plei/, but here you can hear /plɛi/ ---> http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/play
WEAR - I always say /wer/, like here ---> http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wear
BEAR - I always say /ber/, but here you can hear /bɛr/ ----> http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bear

Kooyeen

Difference between, Pronunciation, Diphthongs

CalifJim

#351302 Sun, 15 Apr 07 11:29 PM

he was going to switch from ash to a tense "e"

No, I don't think that's what he meant. I think he meant he was switching from ash to lax "e", both of which, I agree, are just fine as pronunciations. (I use lax "e" myself, and so does the m-w website.)

Kooyeen!!! Help!!! I don't think some of those symbols are coming out the same on everybody's screens!

You meant you used to use "ash" (lax "a") (SAMPA {) and switched to lax "e" (SAMPA E), right?

CJ

CalifJim

Pronunciation, Tenses

Marvin A.

#351303 Sun, 15 Apr 07 11:31 PM

>> PLAY - I always say /plei/, but here you can hear /plɛi/ > BEAR - I always say /ber/, but here you can hear /bɛr/ <<

According to Wikipedia, before /r\/, in American English "[ There ] is one of tense-lax neutralization, where the normal English distinction between tense and lax vowels is eliminated."

Thus, there is no contrast between either /e/ or /E/ before an /r\/. However, to my ears, most people use something closer to [ E ] than [ e ] . I usually use something closer to [ æ ] however--but that affects all my /E/'s.

Marvin A.

Vowels, American English, Pronunciation, Tenses

Kooyeen

#351305 Sun, 15 Apr 07 11:35 PM

I just posted, I had some trouble posting the image...

So I used to say /klærəti/ and now I say "cl-air-uh-tee", and since I pronounce air as /er/ and not /ɛr/, it's more like /klerəti/ than /klɛrəti/.

I really don't know if it's clear...

Kooyeen

Pronunciation

1 2 3 4