Key at bottom of page
Commentary
when:
In all its various uses when is
usually stressed and has no 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).
a:
When unstressed, as it usually is, the indefinite article a has the weak form /ə/.
everything:
When schwa /ə/ is followed by /r/ and then an unstressed syllable, the schwa /ə/
is often elided. Memory /ˈmeməri/ becomes
/ˈmemri/, separate (adj.) /ˈsepərət/
becomes /ˈseprət/, etc. In the case of every,
the word is so common that for most people /ˈevri/ is probably the form they
have in their mental lexicon and the form /ˈevəri/, if they occasionally use
it, is caused by the influence of the spelling.
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).
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.
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