Search results for 'tag:Diphthongs' matching tag 'Diphthongs'

Re: Spliffs or splives??

cool breeze — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:51:24 GMT

Phonetic rules usually apply universally regardless of the language in question. For example, it's easier to pronounce the m sound before a p , b and m sound and therefore we have words like impossible, imbibe, and impolite instead of inpossible, inbibe and inpossible even though the original Latin prefix is in , not im. For the same reason, the Finnish language has kumpi, not kunpi and Swedish has immigrera, not inmigrera (to immigrate). The f sound is unvoiced and thus no phonetic "law" requires voiced sounds after it since there is only a short vowel sound before it. Vera Lynn sang: "There'll be bluebirds over the white clif fs of Dover." She didn't sing: "There'll be bluebirds over the...

Re: Vowels

mister micawber — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 07:32:54 GMT

When its sound is a vowel sound or part of a diphthong, as in cow and awe .

Re: Are there any difference between these?

raindoctor — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 19:10:07 GMT

In AmE, various becomes 'var' in various becomes vɛ ɚ (American phoneticians don't agree to the concept of british phoneticians that r-colored vowl is same as schaw + the consonant r). In RP, 'var' becomes vɛ ə; in some languages, it is called vocalization of /r/. əʊ vs. oʊ: RP diphthong vs AmE diphthong. Their sounds are different; in fact, this is one reason why RP is said to have central resonance by some dialect coaches.

Re: Are there any difference between these?

dokterjokkebrok — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 14:35:30 GMT

are there any difference in pronouncing eə and e?, əʊ and oʊ? say various ( ˈ v eə .ri.əs | ˈ v e r.i.əs ) video ( ˈ vɪd.i. əʊ | ˈ vɪd.i. oʊ ) Yes. /eə/ and /e/ sound quite differently. Typically, the first one is the British English pronunciation, and the second one the American pronunciation. The same goes for /əʊ/ and /oʊ/. A sound consisting of two IPC symbols is called a diphthong . /əʊ/, /eə/, and /oʊ/ are all diphthongs. Sounds of only one symbol are monophthongs, for example /e/. Words with /eə/ or /e/, depending on the accent: c are , d are , t ea r, w ea r, st ai rs, f ai r, f a re, r a re, Words with /əʊ/ or /oʊ/, depending on the accent: b oat , c oat , sn ow , l ow , sl ow , f oe , McEnr oe , Kind...

Re: Men v.s. man

kooyeen — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 20:39:51 GMT

I hear: cat, beer, nuclear reactor, Chuck Norris, jingle bells. Right? Good accent! LOL, I'm kidding. Man, sad, then, men, said, unstressed "than" (pronounced like "thun" in "Better than me"). There is another common way to distinguish "man" from "men" in American English, and it's to use a diphthong in "man" (/mɛən/).

Re: Would vs Will

kooyeen — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:53:36 GMT

I don't understand what you mean, it's just that "would do it" and "will do it" both sound somewhere around /wʊdːʉɪt/ to me, in connected speech. Maybe the difference lies in the vowel... I susped the vowel in "will do" might be a diphthong, and that might be the only way to distinguish it from "would do". But I'll keep investigating... lol. By the way, do you happen to know any good books on English phonology you can recommend? What I'm looking for is something more than an accent reduction course, something comprehensive, where important phonological features are not omitted or overly simplified. I'm particularly interested in the features of connected speech in the major...

Re: Please answer my query

gleb_chebrikoff — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 23:18:29 GMT

Dear friend, glides are sounds produced with little or no obstruction of the airstream that are preceded or followed by a vowel. If they are followed by vowels, they are called on-glides , as in woo, where /w/ is an on-glide. If these sounds are preceded by vowels, they are termed off-glides , all English diphthongs include them: /ʊ/ in cow is one example. Some linguists use the terms you inquire about in a sharply different way. Thus, according to some of them, glides are terms used in phonetics to refer to the auditory effect of articulatory movement at points of transition between sounds. An off-glide is a movement which occurs as the vocal organs leave the position taken up by one speech sound and travel towards the position...

Re: Minimal pairs

dokterjokkebrok — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:53:49 GMT

I think that one obvious difference to be pointed out here is that: /ɔː/ is a monophthong while /oʊ/ is a diphthong (that is, if you were in fact referring to these symbols) The first one (monophthong) mainly consists of only one sound, whereas the second one (diphthong)is actually a combination of two sounds produced with different tongue/mouth settings, connected with a movement of the tongue (tongue glide) – so two different sounds, basically. Both sounds require the lips to be more or less rounded, and feel as if they're produced in the back of your mouth. (Also, in the future, I think you'd better include some form of 'please', 'thank you in advance' or at least a less...

Re: American 'a' in 'can' /æ/ or /e/?

kooyeen — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 19:55:42 GMT

No, I guess I usually hear it as /æ/. If you are hearing anything else, you could post a Youtube video or an audio clip. Anyway, I noticed that you mentioned the word "can" in the title. In that case, before /n/, /m/, /ŋ/, it's often not /æ/ in American English, but a diphthong similar to /eə/ or /ɛə/. Alright, I tried to look for something relevant on youtube, I found this, and I'm gonna comment on it. 0:05 - I'm a representative Here you can hear two normal /ɛ/, as in "bed" 0:06 - I have cancer In "cancer" /æ/ is before /n/, and this guy pronounces it less strong, almost a /ɛ/ 0:07 - More dangerous than the plant itself In "plant" /æ/ is before /n/, and this girl...

Re: Diphthongs

mister micawber — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 05:48:41 GMT

From the Wikipedia article, here are the Standard English diphthongs RP ( British ) Australian American GA Canadian l ow l ou d

anonymous — Wed, 13 May 2009 04:06:05 GMT

From Dictionary.com Word History : Why do we pronounce one (wŭn) and once (wŭns) while other words derived from one, like only, alone, and atone, are pronounced with a long o? Over time, stressed vowels commonly become diphthongs, as when Latin bona became buona in Italian and buena in Spanish. A similar diphthongization of one and once began in the late Middle Ages in the west of England and in Wales and is first recorded around 1400. The vowel sound underwent a series of changes, such that the word's pronunciation went from (ōn) to (ōōōn), with two syllables, to (wōn) to (wōōn) to (wŏŏn) and finally to (wŭn). In southwest England, this diphthongization happened to other words beginning with the long o sound, such as oats,...

Re: Vowel [ʌ] in modern English

kooyeen — Thu, 07 May 2009 23:52:22 GMT

Ok, lol... then... I don't know if I understand your problem, but you are right, transcriptions in dictionaries are not accurate. But I don't know what to say, because it varies from dictionary to dictionary...I'll just give you a few examples taken from Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English: Thought: /θɔːt/ - both US and UK. If they had chosen a better transcription they would have written /θɑt/ for US English. That's how some Americans say it, but some are not cot-caught merged, so some might say something like /θɒt/ or /θɔt/. In the UK, maybe it's often more like /θot/, but I don't feel too sure about all these sounds, LOL. So, as you can see, Longman's choice to just write /θɔːt/ can't be...

Re: "Trader" and "Traitor" in American English

califjim — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 00:44:50 GMT

Canadian raising Only for the diphthongs /ai/ and /au/, so "traitor" and "trader", having neither of those, would be pronounced the same. CJ

Re: What is a syllable?

danielrams07 — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 16:15:41 GMT

syllable Segment of speech usually consisting of a vowel with or without accompanying consonant sounds (e.g., a , I , out , too , cap , snap , check ). A syllabic consonant, like the final n sound in button and widen , also constitutes a syllable. Closed (checked) syllables end in a consonant, open (free) syllables in a vowel. Syllables play an important role in the study of speech and in phonetics and phonology . girl have 1 go have 1 rain 2 famous 2 hour 1 double 2 prison 2 A syllable is a basic unit of written and spoken language. It is a unit consisting of uninterrupted sound that can be used to make up words. For example, the word hotel has two syllables: ho and tel . These will be marked here as in ho/tel . Counting Syllables ...

Re: IS "w" A VOWEL

anonymous — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 20:14:15 GMT

Yes, it is a vowel, if used in diphthong (e.g. "show," "claw," "shaw," et c.; used to complete the elongated vowel) or, as stated above, in cwm or crwth, words both Welsh-derived meaning an "amphitheater-like valley" and an ancient, stringed instrument respectively.

Re: Elision: who could provide some examples

zerox — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 16:39:22 GMT

I doubt I'd say 'I' as /ai/ in fast speech. More like just / ə /. That's a good point too, but it's not a schwa in my opinion. For me, it's the first vowel in the diphthong /aɪ/, as in "eye". In other words, "I" becomes a monophthong (I don't even know how to spell it, and don't even know if that word exists, lol). But this doesn't always happen... it's only more common in some structures I think, otherwise if you always use the monophthong you'll sound southern or something. I don't know. Another thing I noticed is the vowel in "travel". I think it should be /æ/ instead of the /ɑ/. And another comment... is that in really fast speech, very weird things can...

Re: Elision: who could provide some examples

kooyeen — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 23:44:39 GMT

Re: Rice and rise

avangi — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 02:32:24 GMT

When I pronounce them, it's clearly the "ah" portion of the diphthong that suffers the loss. I'd say the anticipation of the quicker change in "rice" prevents me from lowering my tongue to the "full" "ah" position.

Re: Rice and rise

pter — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 02:15:24 GMT

Thanks, Avangi. Besides the length, is there any difference in how you pronounce the diphthong? rise - / raiz / rice - / rais / I mean, when we pronounce a diphthong, the shape of the mouth changes: in this case from "a" to "i". I think "a" is at the back and "i" is at the front. Is it just that the transition from "a" to "i" is much quicker in / rais / ?

Re: some word usage

paul — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 16:24:55 GMT

bye =A0 =A0for =A0 =A0by I don't know. Peter Duncanson, UK (in uk.culture.language.english) May be, just may be what the original poster meant to express was that he's noticed the word 'bye' being articulated (and not written) with the first vowel component in the diphthong more prominently pronounced than the second, in certain areas in the U.K. and not so prominently pronounced in certain other areas. "There, little luxury, don't you cry, You'll be a necessity by and by!" Paul.

Re: Linking two consonants/diphthongs ???

anonymous — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 02:14:05 GMT

Are you learning English? Both ways are correct in their own regards. It is phonetically correct to pronounce each diphthong separately, but native speakers don't. Therefore, if you aim to blend in, practice collaborating the diphthongs.

Re: A phonetic question!!! What's the difference between /e/ and /ɛ/??

kooyeen — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 22:52:02 GMT

They are often used interchangeably in dictionaries, but if you take them as IPA symbols they are two different vowel sounds. /e/ is higher in the IPA chart of vowels. / ɛ / is lower. This means your mouth is a little more open, because your jaw is lower. Generally speaking, you are going to hear a kind of vowel that is between /e/ and / ɛ / in many dialects, I guess. As a reference, in American English, I generally associate / ɛ / with BED (/b ɛd/) , and /e/ with the starting point of the diphthong in PLAY (/ple ɪ/). But I believe perfect transcriptions don't exist, or if they exist, they are much more complicated to understand than simple IPA.

Re: Rules when using a double consonant before ***

anonymous — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 07:36:38 GMT

Here is the most complete set of rules I could come up with: - If a word ends with a consonant-vowel-consonant combination (C-V-C), and the word * has only one syllable (ex.: get) OR * the last syllable in a word with two or more syllables is stressed (ex.: worship), then you double the last consonant before adding a suffix. (ex.: travel -> travelled / travelling, but not filter -> filterred / filterring) - If the word ends with the letter "c", then you substitute a "k" for the second "c". (ex.: panic -> panicked / panicking) - If the word ends with the letter "e", you do not double the consonant preceding the "e" when adding a suffix, because, even though the "e"...

Re: WHEN IS "w" A VOWEL

anonymous — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 04:03:28 GMT

Hi, I just found out Friday, 11-21-08, that the people in the state of Washington were not taught that ‘w’ is sometimes a vowel. This was quite a shock to me so then I did research on the subject and wrote the following paper. I am over fifty and had no idea that this was such a controversy until two days ago. ‘Vowels Y & W Made Easy’ by Cindy N A vowel is the sound in a spoken language were the vocal tract is open and there is no build up of air pressure between the vocal cords at the upper part of the larynx, i.e.; ah, oh, ee, ay, ow …. There are five true (they are only) vowels a,e,i,o,u, and sometimes y & w. Y and W can be a vowel or a consonant depending upon where it is in the word. In English...

Re: grammar/vocabulary

clive — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 01:08:00 GMT

Hi, Could you please check my reflection for grammar and vocabulary mistakes? For a number of months I have been studying word families. In addition to this, I have also been dissecting words for prefixes, suffixes, consonant blends and digraphs, as well as vowel diphthongs. In order for me to have the ownership of my learning, no list of spelling words is provided weekly by my teacher. My active participation in my learning consists of generating a list of words that belongs to the word family I am studying. Words for my spelling quiz are chosen randomly from my lists. I think that this approach to spelling makes me think and therefore helps me remember better. Also , I notice/have noticed that when I am reading I utilize my...

grammar/vocabulary

knjiga — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 00:57:23 GMT

Could you please check my reflection for grammar and vocabulary mistakes? For a number of months I have been studying word families. In addition to this, I have also been dissecting words for prefixes, suffixes, consonant blends and digraphs, as well as vowel diphthongs. In order for me to have the ownership of my learning, no list of spelling words is provided weekly by my teacher. My active participation in my learning consists of generating a list of words that belongs to the word family I am studying. Words for my spelling quiz are chosen randomly from my lists. I think that this approach to spelling makes me think and therefore helps me remember better. Also I noticed that when I am reading I utilize my spelling strategies to...

Re: Comments on my pronunciation needed

caedmon — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 14:39:06 GMT

Samuraifingers: I'm sorry if I made it seem like I was expecting a professional assessment of my pronunciation. I am really only looking for brief comments such as "this or that vowel has the wrong quality" or "too much aspiration" or "too little aspiration" - things that I suppose will strike a native speaker fairly immediately when he hears me speak. Here are some particular concerns I've been having, for instance: - The distinction between voiced and voiceless sibilants (eyes-ice, ridge-rich) does not exist in my native language. I noticed that I had been hyperarticulating these in English, and sounding somewhat pedantic as a result. - The secondary stress in compounds is still unclear to me. - I...

Re: IS "w" A VOWEL

alpheccastars — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:58:13 GMT

The conventional teaching is that the vowels are AEIOU and sometimes Y. Y is a consonant in Yet and Yoghurt. It is a vowel in City and Candy. W is a consonant in Woman and Wine. W is part of a diphthong in words like PAWN, FAWN, FOWL, FEW My ESL books based on phonics study teach the short vowel sound for 'Y", but W is not taught as an independent vowel letter. It modifies the preceeding vowel sound in some words to make a new vowel sound. There are similar lessons on R as in FARM, BURN, TERN /ur/ Here are the current definitions: VOWEL 1. Phonetics. a. (in English articulation) a speech sound produced without occluding, diverting, or obstructing the flow of air from the lungs (opposed to consonant). b. (in a syllable) the...

Re: ::: Why not to double the last letter !!? :::

cool breeze — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 10:23:43 GMT

1) - What about ( happen / open ) in the British English !!? Can the last consonant be doubled !? 2) - What is a diphthong ? 1. Why don't you believe us? Nothing was said about n being an exception in British English, so it's not an exception! 2. You have the Internet at your disposal. It is replete with information. Type diphthong in a search engine and you'll get lots of answers. Here is one. CB

Re: ::: Why not to double the last letter !!? :::

the_ancestral_eagle — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 08:07:58 GMT

Thanks a lot CB & CJ .. So, it's a matter of stress .. ! But !! 1) - What about ( happen / open ) in the British English !!? Can the last consonant be doubled !? 2) - What is a diphthong ? Thanks again

Re: ::: Why not to double the last letter !!? :::

cool breeze — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 20:24:49 GMT

The consonant is doubled if there is a short vowel between consonants in a stressed syllable: forge tt ing, swi mm ing If the syllable is not stressed, doubling doesn't occur: targe t ing No doubling occurs if the vowel is pronounced as a diphthong: growing In British English - illogically - l is doubled even in an unstressed syllable in similar words: trave ll ing There are numerous cases where usage is unsettled and you have a choice: focused / focu ss ed CB

Re: WHEN IS "w" A VOWEL

missmandy — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 17:02:28 GMT

This debate really seems to be about two different things, spelling and pronunciation. The letter w (and y) is often used with other vowels (and sometimes alone as well) in spelling to reperesent a vowel sound . In the words hi and by , the letter i and the letter y are representing the same sound. To add to the confusion, English has many diphthongs, or two-sound vowels. Two-sound vowels often begin or end in a sound very similar to a w sound or y sound. The easiest to here are oy (boy) and ow (cow), which can also be spelled oi (coin) and ou (house). So, it is very clear, that in spelling , w and y are like vowels. Our educators have found it much easier to just tell our kids that those letters are vowels because they are so often part...

Re: What do we call this alphabet?

philip — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 05:19:31 GMT

é is, indeed, called an e with an acute accent. It is in the French alphabet, pronounced as in English day , but not as lengthy, and without diphthong. Many words in English keep the French diacritical marks in some words: résumé, protégé, financé, déjà vu.

Re: Dr WHO - etymology of Daleks

einde o'callaghan — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 21:55:42 GMT

But the collapsed diphthong - in which a diphthong is ... to know off pat and deliver without missing a beat. So how is Solihull pronounced then? I always think of it as "solly-hull"... According to Wikipedia it's pronounced that way and also with a long "o". Regards, Einde O'Callaghan

Re: Dr WHO - etymology of Daleks

halmyre — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 20:48:15 GMT

In article But the collapsed diphthong - in which a diphthong is formed to provide minimal phonetic cues to a longer word ... reliable acculturated BBC anchor or links man would be expected to know off pat and deliver without missing a beat. So how is Solihull pronounced then? I always think of it as "solly-hull"... Halmyre That's you that is.

Dr WHO - etymology of Daleks

fcs — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 17:04:56 GMT

I remember at school there was a combined volume of "Billy Liar" and "The Loneliness of The Long Distance Runner" ubiquitous to the "English Rooms". I thought the latter to be the better story, better written; but Billy Liar had been made into a film and it should be a good preparation for comparing films to books in what would now be our GCSE curriculum, so it got both read-aloud, and screened, in front of an audience. One reason, perhaps, was its "satire" of the medallion-sporting down-to-earth traditional business type - Councillor Duxbury - as well as its use of localish accents, including made up dialect, and it being written by a localish writer. Certainly the character Shadrach, co-patron of...

"an eulogy" or "a eulogy"?

paul — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:13:57 GMT

As per phonetics theory, I've been told one should use the indefinite article "a" before words beginning with a consonant and "an" before words beginning with a vowel or a diphthong. And the sound "y" ( or / j / in phonetic script) as in "eulogy", "university", "European" etc. is to be treated as a consonant (though in certain contexts one would also call it a "semi-vowel"). Why is it that I still find "an" preceeding this sound in certain write-ups generating combinations such as "an eulogy", and "an university" ? Are these instances of incorrect usage? Paul.

Re: fair-haired

pter — Mon, 19 May 2008 10:02:06 GMT

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 differently in British English. The first one is a simple vowel while the second one is a diphthong / e /. The question is whether the diphthong / e / ONLY occurs before an R. If it occurs before some other consonants, such as D, L, T, N ( / -e t /, / -e l /, / -e d /, / -e n / ), using / er / to indicate a different sound from / e / is not a good idea because you'll have problems showing the differences between / -e