An Important Rule

ə ˈprepəˈzɪʃn̩ | ɪz ˈsʌmθɪŋ ju ʃʊd ˈnevər ˈend ə ˈsentəns ˈwɪð

Key at bottom of page.

Commentary

a: When unstressed, as it usually is, the indefinite article a has the weak form /ə/.

preposition: Phonemically, the final syllable of preposition is /ən/. When this syllable is preceded by /ʃ/, however, the schwa /ə/ often isn't pronounced. Instead the articulators move directly from the position for /ʃ/ to the position for /n/. This is relatively easy to do because /ʃ/ is a fricative, a category of sound which involves making a very narrow stricture in the vocal tract. It is possible, therefore, for the articulators to move from such a position to the complete closure required for /n/ (accompanied by the lowering of the soft palate to allow air to escape out through the nose) without passing through the position for a vowel and thereby avoiding an intervening schwa /ə/.

Note that in English, syllabic /n/ is not a phoneme in its own right, but merely a special way of realising the syllable /ən/. This means that when we use a special symbol [n̩] for it in transcription, it makes our transcription non-phonemic (because we are now using more than one symbol for each phoneme and introducing a special symbol to show a particular phonetic detail).

you: The symbol u represents the same vowel phoneme as the symbol uː. We use u in unstressed syllables and uː in stressed syllables. This distinction isn't very helpful for TEFL purposes and learners should simply treat the two symbols as the same. Because we are using two different symbols for one phoneme, this means our transcription isn't truly phonemic (phonemic transcription = one symbol for each phoneme).

should: When unstressed, as it often is, the modal verb should can be pronounced /ʃʊd/ or with the weak form /ʃəd/. For the sake of simplicity, learners can use the pronunciation /ʃʊd/ for both stressed and unstressed should and ignore the weak form.

never: When a word ends in schwa /ə/ and is immediately followed (without a pause) by a word beginning with a vowel, the consonant /r/ is inserted between the vowels. This process is known as /r/-liaison and also occurs after /ɑː ɔː ɜː eə ɪə ʊə/.

sentence: The syllable /əns/ often results in syllabic consonant when preceded by /t/ (e.g. importance, pittance), but not usually when the /t/ is preceded by /n/ (e.g. repentance /rɪˈpentəns/, acquaintance /əˈkweɪntəns/).

A preposition is something you should never end a sentence with.