Linguistic Research

maɪ ˈfrend hæz ə ˈbeɪbi ˈbɔɪ || aɪm rɪˈkɔːdɪŋ ˈɔːl ðə ˈnɔɪzɪz i ˈmeɪks | səʊ ˈleɪtər aɪ kən ˈɑːsk ɪm | ˈwɒt i wəz ˈseɪɪŋ

Key at bottom of page.

Commentary

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

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

baby: The final 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’m: When unstressed, as it usually is, and immediately preceded by I, am has the weak form /m/, which attaches to the preceding I to form the contraction I’m /aɪm/.

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

noises: 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.

he: When unstressed, as it usually is, and not immediately preceded by a pause, he has the weak form /i/. After a pause, unstressed he is pronounced /hi/ (e.g. He knows he did it. /hi ˈnəʊz i ˈdɪd ɪt/ He said he could. /hi ˈsed i ˈkʊd/ He thought he was. /hi ˈθɔːt i ˈwɒz/).

becomes: The third person singular s has three pronunciations depending on the sound at the end of the verb:

•          /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, possessive s and the contraction of is.

so: The word so is sometimes stressed and sometimes unstressed. When unstressed, it occasionally has the weak form /sə/ before consonants, but /səʊ/ is always acceptable and learners can safely use it in all unstressed contexts.

later: When a word ends in /ə/ and is immediately followed (without a pause) by a word beginning with a vowel, the consonant /r/ is inserted between the vowels. This process is known as /r/-liaison and also occurs after /ɑː eə ɜː ɔː ɪə ʊə/.

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

can: When unstressed, as it usually is, the modal verb can has the weak from /kən/.

him: When unstressed, as it usually is, him has the weak form /ɪm/.

was: When unstressed, as it usually is, was has the weak form /wəz/.

My friend has a baby boy. I’m recording all the noises he makes so later I can ask what he was saying.