ˈɡɪvɪŋ ˈʌp ˈsməʊkɪŋz ˈiːzi || aɪv ˈdʌn ɪt ˈθaʊzn̩z ə ˈtaɪmz
Key at bottom of page.
Comments
up:
The word up is usually stressed and
has no weak form.
smoking’s:
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/.
easy:
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).
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/.
it:
Although it is a monosyllabic
function/grammatical word and is usually unstressed, it doesn’t have a weak
form.
thousands:
Phonemically, the final syllable of thousands
is /əndz/. When this syllable is preceded by /z/, however, the schwa /ə/ often
isn't pronounced. Instead the articulators move directly from the position for
/z/ to the position for /n/. This is relatively easy to do because /z/ 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/. This results in syllabic /n/.
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).
When /d/ is at the end of a word (more
specifically, 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.
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).
times:
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.
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