ˈseɪm ˈmɪdl̩ ˈneɪm
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Commentary
[Don't worry if you find this
overwhelming. Don't let yourself be put off. The same phenomena will come up
again and again in these transcriptions. There'll be plenty of opportunities
for them to sink in over time. Slow and steady, a little each day, is the key
to success.]
do:
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).
the:
When unstressed, as it usually is, the
has the weak form /ðə/ when a consonant immediately follows.
and:
When unstressed, as it usually is, and
has the weak form /ən/ or /ənd/. Some books say that /ən/ is used before
consonants and /ənd/ before vowels, but this is not true. While both forms can
be heard before consonants and vowels, /ən/ is much more common than /ənd/.
Learners can safely use only /ən/ for the weak form of and because it will never be wrong to do so.
Winnie:
The symbol i represents the same vowel
phoneme as the symbol iː. We use i in unstressed syllables and iː 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).
in:
The final consonant of in undergoes
assimilation, changing from /n/ to /ŋ/ because the immediately following word
begins with /k/. The consonant /n/ is a voiced alveolar nasal and /ŋ/ is a voiced velar nasal. The change from /n/ to /ŋ/ is a change of place of
articulation (not of voicing or of manner of articulation). The place of
articulation of the nasal changes to velar because the following consonant is
velar (/k/ = a voiceless velar plosive). It is usual for /n/ to change its
place of articulation to that of an immediately following consonant, becoming
/ŋ/ before velar consonants (/k/ or /ɡ/) or /m/ before bilabial consonants (/p
b m/).
common:
The syllable /ən/ does not form a syllabic consonant when preceded by /m/.
middle:
Phonemically, the final syllable of middle
is /əl/. When this syllable is preceded by /d/, however, the schwa /ə/ isn't
pronounced. Instead the articulators move directly from the position for /d/ to
the position for /l/. This is easy to do in the case of /d/ because /d/ is
articulated with tongue-tip against the alveolar ridge and the side-rims of the
tongue against the upper molars, while /l/ is articulated with only the
tongue-tip against the alveolar ridge. It is possible to move directly from /d/
to /l/ without an intervening vowel, therefore, merely by lowering the
side-rims of the tongue from the side molars and leaving the tongue-tip in
place. This is known as lateral release.
Note that in English, syllabic /l/ is
not a phoneme in its own right, but merely a special way of realising the
syllable /əl/. This means that when we use a special symbol [l̩] 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). It is worthwhile including this feature in
transcriptions for EFL purposes, however, because it is a difficult area for
learners and this draws their attention to it.
What do Alexander the Great and Winnie
the Pooh have in common?
Same middle name.
Ouch! This one hurts!
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