Totally Unpredictable

aɪ ˈnevə ˈmeɪk prɪˈdɪkʃn̩z | ən aɪ ˈnevə ˈwɪl

Key at bottom of page.

Commentary

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

predictions: Phonemically, the final syllable of predictions is /ənz/. 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).

The plural s has three pronunciations depending on the sound at the end of the noun:

•          /ɪz/ after /s z ʃ ʒ ʧ ʤ/
•          /s/ after the remaining voiceless consonants
•          /z/ after vowels and the remaining voiced consonants.

The same pattern applies to plural s, third person singular s and the contraction of is.

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.

will: When an auxiliary verb stands alone to represent a verb phrase, it is stressed and has its strong form. For example: Will you carry this home? ~ Yes, I will /aɪ ˈwɪl/. Can you transcribe whole sentences phonetically? ~ Yes, I can /aɪ ˈkæn/.

I never make predictions, and I never will.