Good Parenting

maɪ ˈdɔːtə ˈθɪŋks aɪm ˈnəʊzi || ət ˈliːs ˈðæts ˈwɒt ʃi ˈrəʊt ɪn ɜː ˈdaɪəri

Key at bottom of page.

Commentary

my: Although my is monosyllabic function/grammatical word and is usually unstressed, it doesn’t usually have a weak form.

thinks: When a verb ends in a voiceless consonant /p t k f θ/ (excluding /s ʃ ʧ/), the third person singular is formed by adding /s/ (e.g. sips /sɪps/, hits /hɪts/, licks /lɪks/, stuffs /stʌfs/, unearths /ʌnˈɜːθs). The same pattern applies to possessive s, plural s and the contracted form of is.

I’m: When unstressed, as it usually is, and immediately preceded by I, am has the weak form /m/, which attaches to the preceding I to form the contraction I’m /aɪm/.

nosy: 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).

at: When unstressed, as it usually is, at has the weak form /ət/.

leastː When /t/ is at the end of a syllable (more specifically, in a syllable coda) and is immediately preceded by a consonant (except /l/ and /n/), it is commonly elided/deleted when another consonant immediately follows (i.e. without a pause) in another word or in a suffix.

that’s: When unstressed, as it usually is, the word is can have three different pronunciations, depending on the final sound of the immediately preceding word:

• When the final sound of the preceding word is /s z ʃ ʒ ʧ ʤ/, then is has the form /ɪz/, e.g. Chris is well /ˈkrɪs ɪz ˈwel/.
• When the final sound of the preceding word is a voiceless consonants (excluding the consonants listed above), then is has the form /s/ and forms a contraction with the preceding word, e.g. Jack is well /ˈʤæks ˈwel/.
•  If the final sound of the preceding word is voiced (i.e. a vowel or a voiced consonant (excluding the consonants listed above)), then is has the form /z/ and forms a contraction with the preceding word, e.g. John is well /ˈʤɒnz ˈwel/.

This is the same pattern as with possessive s, plural s and the third person singular s.

what: What is usually stressed in all its uses and has no weak form.

in: Although in is monosyllabic function/grammatical word and is usually unstressed, it doesn’t usually have a weak form.

her: When unstressed, as it usually is, the determiner her usually has the weak form /ɜː/, or sometimes /ə/. When her is a pronoun (e.g. I’ve met her. /aɪv ˈmet ə/), it usually has the weak form /ə/, or sometimes /ɜː/.

diary: The sequence /aɪə/ (and the sequence /aʊə/, also less frequently the sequences /eɪə ɔɪə əʊə/) is often referred to as a ‘triphthong’. This is incorrect. A triphthong is a vowel which glides from one vowel position towards a second and then towards a third, all in one syllable. The sequence /aɪə/ (and /aʊə eɪə ɔɪə əʊə) is a disyllabic sequence of a diphthong (one syllable) and schwa (another syllable).

The triphthong vs. disyllabic sequence confusion is caused by the tendency towards smoothing in this context (more so in the case of /aʊə aɪə/ than the others). Smoothing involves the loss of the gliding element of a diphthong. In the case of /aɪə/, the glide in the direction of /ɪ/ is lost, resulting in the diphthong [aə] and the loss of a syllable. This diphthong can itself be smoothed to [a:], a long open vowel. Depending on the quality used as the starting point of the /aʊ aɪ/ diphthongs, the long open [a:] vowel resulting from smoothing may or may not be identical to the speaker’s /ɑː/ vowel.

Historically, smoothing has led to the word our having the common variant pronunciation /ɑː/ (as a citation form, not merely a realisation of an underlying /aʊə/). In all other cases, however, smoothing is an optional process, some speakers doing it more or less than others or not at all. Learners need not imitate it, or even perhaps should not imitate it because extensive smoothing can be perceived as socially conspicuous or ‘posh’.

My daughter thinks I’m nosy. At least that’s what she wrote in her diary.