ðə ˈjɪəz ðət ə ˈwʊmən səbˈtræks frəm ɜːr ˈeɪʤ | ə ˈnɒt ˈlɒst || ðeər ˈædɪd tə ði ˈeɪʤɪz | əv ˈʌðə ˈwɪmɪn
Key at bottom of page.
Commentary
the:
When unstressed, as it usually is, the definite article the has the weak form /ðə/ when the following word begins with a
consonant.
years: The word year also has the less common variant /jɜː/.
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:
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/.
a:
When unstressed, as it usually is, the indefinite article a has the weak form /ə/.
subtracts: When
/t/ is at the end of a word (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.
from:
When unstressed, as it usually is, from
has the weak form /frəm/.
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/.
are:
When unstressed, as it usually is, are
has the weak form /ə/.
not: Despite being a
monosyllabic function/grammar word, not
is usually stressed and does not have a weak form (except when it forms
negative contractions like doesn’t, couldn’t, etc.).
they’re: When are forms a contraction with they, the contraction is pronounced /ðeə/,
which is the same pronunciation as the words their and there. In more
casual speech, they’re can be further
reduced to /ðə/.
added: 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
to:
When unstressed, as it usually is, to
has the weak form /tə/ when the immediately following word begins with a
consonant. This is true for both the preposition, e.g. Go to hell /ˈɡəʊ tə ˈhel/, and the 'to infinitive', e.g. Go to see /ˈɡəʊ tə ˈsiː/.
the:
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).
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).
woman/women:
Note that although there is only one difference of spelling between woman and women, in the pronunciation there are two differences: /ˈwʊmən/ vs.
/ˈwɪmɪn/.
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