Yes, Yankee's comments above pretty much speak for British English usage, as well as for American English. The initial u in the 'consonant' examples given by Yankee is invariably pronounced as yoo . As for British usage of 'An

Hi, yes, I remember you asked about him. I'm not an expert at all, but I can tell you my opinion, as a learner. I agree it's a good accent for those who are interested in British English. I don't find any annoying features in his

In American English the 's' in sides sounds like /z/ too. Here are the rules for pronouncing the final 's' in American English. 1. ‘es’ is pronounced as /ez/ after these sibilant sounds /s/ businesses, buses /z/ freezes, causes

James- I think the differences all could be accounted for by dialect. In American English, I have been taught that the only syllabic consonants are l and n, but not m. all of the words above such as london and gordon could be pronounced with a

Yes, there are regional variations in American English. Do you know which accent is chosen by MW as the reference in the pronunciation keys. Is it General American? My problem is that, as I have mentioned before, they are indeed denoted

Thanks again for your patience in explaining that to me. I think I know what you are talking about. This also happens for the length of vowels before voiceless consonants vs voiced consonants, e.g. bat vs bad. Yes, you are right, the vowel quality

No. But in African American English sometimes, or often, there are similar reduction, for example TEST ---> TESS ... HAND ---> HAN What you are hearing is probably the fact that consonants are not fully pronounced in some cases. For example

I've noticed that in some TV programs some final consonant clusters are reduced. Here are a few examples that I've noticed: facts -> fax gifts -> gifs tests -> tess tasks -> tass asked -> ass-t kicked -> kit Is it

It's a symbol for phonetic transcriptions and it represent a sound, not a letter. It's not a matter of pronouncing it differently, but a matter of using it or not. Americans use that sound in "bath" for example, but some people

Is was wondering if there is any difference between 'better' and 'bed or...' in American English. At least previously I thought that the vowel preceding the letter 'd' is longer in 'bed or', since it is followed by a voiced consonant in any