Wednesday, 14 February 2018

Happy Valentine's Day!

ˈəʊnli ˈwʌŋ ˈkaɪnd əv ˈlʌv ˈlɑːsts || ˈʌnrɪˈkwaɪtɪd


Key at bottom of page.

Commentary

only: The symbol i represents the same vowel phoneme as the symbol . We use i in unstressed syllables and 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).

one: Numbers are usually stressed and don’t have weak forms.

The final consonant of one 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/).

of: When unstressed, as it usually is, of has the weak form /əv/. When a consonant immediately follows in the next word, of can have the form /ə/. This is particularly common before /ð/ (e.g. of the, of those, of them, of this, of that) and in high-frequency phrases (e.g. a cup of tea, a bunch of grapes).

unrequited: The regular <-ed> ending has three pronunciations:
  • ·         /ɪd/ after /t/ or /d/
  • ·         /t/ after all other voiceless consonants
  • ·         /d/ after vowels and all other voiced consonants

Only one kind of love lasts – unrequited.

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