Friday, 9 February 2018

True Romance

aɪv ˈbiːn ɪn ˈlʌv wɪð ðə ˈseɪm ˈwʊmən | fə ˈfɔːti ˈjɪəz || ɪf maɪ ˈwaɪf ˈevə ˈfaɪnz ˈaʊt | ʃil ˈkɪl mi


Key at bottom of page.

Commentary
[Don't worry if you find this difficult. 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.]

I’ve: When unstressed, as it usually is, auxiliary have has the weak form /v/ when preceded by the pronouns I, you, we or they. The weak form combines with these pronouns to form the contractions I’ve /aɪv/, you’ve /ju(ː)v/, we’ve /wi(ː)v/ and they’ve /ðeɪv/.

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

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

the: When unstressed, as it usually is, the definite article the has the weak form /ðə/ when the following word begins with a consonant.

for: When unstressed, as it usually is, for has the weak form /fə/.

forty: 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).

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

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

finds: When /d/ is at the end of a syllable (i.e. in a syllable coda) and is immediately preceded by a consonant, it is commonly elided/deleted when another consonant immediately follows (i.e. without a pause) in another word or, as in this case, in a suffix.

out: The word out is usually stressed and has no weak form.

she’ll: When unstressed, as it usually is, the modal verb will has the form /l/ when it is preceded by one of the personal pronouns I, you, he, she, we or they (but not it, after which is has the form /əl/). This weak form combines with these personal pronouns to form the contractions I’ll /aɪl/, you’ll /ju(ː)l/, he’ll /hi(ː)l/, she’ll /ʃi(ː)l/, we’ll /wi(ː)l/, they’ll /ðeɪl/.

I’ve been in love with the same woman for forty years. If my wife ever finds out, she’ll kill me.

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