A Financial Crisis

ɪf ju ˈəʊ ðə ˈbæŋk | ə ˈhʌndrəd ˈdɒləz | ˈðæts ˈjɔː ˈprɒbləm || ɪf ju ˈəʊ ðə ˈbæŋk ə ˈhʌndrəd ˈmɪljən ˈdɒləz | ˈðæts ðə ˈbæŋks ˈprɒbləm

Key at bottom of page.

Commentary

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

you: 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 definite article the has the weak form /ðə/ when the following word begins with a consonant.

a: When unstressed, as it usually is, the indefinite article a has the weak form /ə/.

dollars: 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 third person singular s, possessive s and the contraction of is.

that’s: When unstressed, as it usually is, that as a conjunction or relative pronoun has the weak form /ðət/. Note that the other uses of that do not have weak forms and are always pronounced /ðæt/: pronoun, I know that. /aɪ ˈnəʊ ˈðæt/; determiner, I know that man. /aɪ ˈnəʊ ˈðæt ˈmæn/; adverb, It wasn’t that good. /ɪt ˈwɒzn̩t ˈðæt ˈɡʊd/.

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.

million: Words which have final /iən/ can also be pronounced /jən/.

bank’s: Possessive 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 third person singular s, plural s and the contraction of is.

If you owe the bank a hundred dollars, that’s your problem. If you owe the bank a hundred million dollars, that’s the bank’s problem.