A Special Gift

ˈwɒʧə ˈɡɪv ə ˈmæn u ˈhæz ˈevriθɪŋ ||

ˈæntibaɪˈɒtɪks

Key at bottom of page.

Commentary

[Don't worry if you find this overwhelming. Don't let yourself be put off. The same phenomena will come up again and again in these transcriptions. There'll be plenty of opportunities for them to sink in over time. Slow and steady, a little each day, is the key to success.]

Explanation: The usual interpretation of What do you give a man who has everything? is What gift can you give a man who is so rich that he has everything he wants?, but the answer antibiotics assumes a different possible interpretation: What medicine do you give a man who has every disease?

what do you: High-frequency phrases tend to undergo more radical processes of assimilation and elision than other less common word combinations. In the case of what do you, there is a spectrum of pronuncations. The most unselfconscious, least formal version (but by no means vulgar or unusual among speakers of standard English) is given here. The most formal, careful version (without becoming artificial or stressing usually unstressed words for special effect) would be /ˈwɒt də ju/. The informal version involves the use of the weak form /jə/ for you before a consonant, the elision of /də/, and the coalescence of /t/ and /j/ to form /ʧ/.

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

who: As a relative pronoun, who is usually unstressed and can have the weak form /u/. As an interrogative pronoun, who is usually stressed and has no weak form (e.g. Who is it? /ˈhuː ˈɪz ɪt/ Who's asking? /ˈhuːz ˈɑːskɪŋ).

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).

antibiotics: When a noun ends in a voiceless consonant /p t k f θ/ (except /s ʃ ʧ/), the regular plural is formed by adding /s/ (e.g. lips /lɪps/, bits /bɪts/, ticks /tɪks/, cliff /klɪfs/, breaths /breθs/). The same pattern applies to possessive s, third person singular s and the contracted form of is.

What do you give a man who has everything?

Antibiotics.

An Unlucky Number

ˈwaɪ wəz ˈsɪks əˈfreɪd əv ˈsevn̩ ||

bəˈkəz ˈsevn̩ ˈeɪt ˈnaɪn

Key at bottom of page.

Commentary

[Don't worry if you find this overwhelming. Don't let yourself be put off. The same phenomena will come up again and again in these transcriptions. There'll be plenty of opportunities for them to sink in over time. Slow and steady, a little each day, is the key to success.]

Explanation: Seven eight nine sounds like seven ate nine when ate is pronounced /eɪt/ (see below).

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

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).

seven: Phonemically, the final syllable of seven is /ən/. When this syllable is preceded by /v/, however, the schwa /ə/ often isn't pronounced. Instead the articulators move directly from the position for /v/ to the position for /n/. This is easy to do in the case of /v/ because /v/ is articulated with the lower lip against the upper teeth and /n/ is articulated with the tongue-tip and side-rims (and lowered velum). These articulators can move independently of each other and so when the /v/ is completed and the lower lip moves away from the upper teeth, the tongue tip and side rims (and lowered velum) are already in position for the /n/ and no intervening schwa /ə/ occurs.

For some speakers, the pronunciation of seven is /ˈsebm̩/.

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).

becauseː Although it’s generally true that schwa /ə/ doesn’t occur in stressed syllables in the General British accent, there are a small number of words in which it can be stressed and the most important of these is because. Learners needn’t be concerned by this because there is always a non-schwa alternative in such words (/-ˈkɒz/ in the case of because) and it will never be wrong to use it.

Note that the generalisation about schwa not occurring in stressed syllables relates to the General British accent. In other accents, most notably General American, there is no phonemic difference between schwa and the STRUT /ʌ/ vowel, both of which can be pronounced with a schwa vowel quality in unstressed and stressed syllables. This is also true of many of the accents of England and Wales.

ate: The word ate can be pronounced /et/ or /eɪt/. This joke relies on the /eɪt/ variant.

Why was six afraid of seven?

Because seven eight nine.

A Strange Meal

ˈtuː ˈkænəbl̩z | ər ˈiːtɪŋ ə ˈklaʊn || ˈwʌn ˈsez tə ði ˈʌðə | dəz ˈðɪs ˈteɪs ˈfʌni tə ju

Key at bottom of page.

Commentary

[Don't worry if you find this overwhelming. Don't let yourself be put off. The same phenomena will come up again and again in these transcriptions. There'll be plenty of opportunities for them to sink in over time. Slow and steady, a little each day, is the key to success.]

funny: The key to this joke is the two meanings of the word funny: 1) humorous, 2) strange. In fact, utterances containing the word are sometimes ambiguous (for example, if you say John is funny) and people often use the expression Do you mean funny ha ha, or funny peculiar? to ask what meaning was intended.

cannibals: Phonemically, the final syllable of cannibals is /əlz/. When this syllable is preceded by /b/, however, the schwa /ə/ isn't pronounced. Instead the articulators move directly from the position for /b/ to the position for /l/. This is easy to do in the case of /b/ because /b/ is articulated with the two lips and /l/ is articulated with the tongue-tip. These articulators can move independently of each other and so when the lips move apart to release the /b/, the tongue tip is already in position for the /l/ and no intervening schwa /ə/ occurs.

Note that in English, syllabic /l/ is not a phoneme in its own right, but merely a special way of realising the syllable /əl/. This means that when we use a special symbol [l̩] 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). It is worthwhile including this feature in transcriptions for EFL purposes, however, because it is a difficult area for learners and this draws their attention to it.

are: When unstressed, as it usually is, are has the weak form /ə/.

When a word ends in schwa /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 ɔː ɜː eə ɪə ʊə/.

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

says: The pronunciation of the word says is a little irregular. While say is pronounced /seɪ/, says is pronounced /sez/.

When a verb ends in a voiced sound (i.e. a vowel or one of the voiced consonants /b d ɡ ʤ v ð z ʒ m n ŋ l/), the third person singular is formed by adding /z/. The same pattern applies to possessive s and plural s.

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).

does: When unstressed, as it usually is, auxiliary does has the weak form /dəz/.

taste: 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.

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).

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One says to the other, “Does this taste funny to you?”

A Literate Canine

ə ˈmæn ˈluːzɪz ɪz ˈdɒɡ || səʊ i ˈpʊts ən ˈæd ɪn ðə ˈpeɪpə | ən ði ˈæd ˈsez | ˈhɪə ˈbɔɪ

Key at bottom of page.

Commentary

[Don't worry if you find this overwhelming. Don't let yourself be put off. The same phenomena will come up again and again in these transcriptions. There'll be plenty of opportunities for them to sink in over time. Slow and steady, a little each day, is the key to success.]

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

loses: When a verb ends in /s z ʃ ʒ ʧ ʤ/, the third person singular is formed by adding /ɪz/ (e.g. kisses /ˈkɪsɪz/, fizzes /ˈfɪzɪz/, wishes /ˈwɪʃɪz/, camouflages /ˈkæməflɑːʒɪz/, churches /ˈʧɜːʧɪz/, judges /ˈʤʌʤɪz/). The same pattern applies to possessive s and plural s.

his: When unstressed, as it usually is, and not immediately preceded by a pause, his has the weak form /ɪz/. After a pause, unstressed his is pronounced /hɪz/ (e.g. His home is his castle. /hɪz ˈhəʊm ɪz ɪz ˈkɑːsl̩/ His brother took his money. /hɪz ˈbrʌðə ˈtʊk ɪz ˈmʌni/ His dog bit his nose. /hɪz ˈdɒɡ ˈbɪt ɪz ˈnəʊz).

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/).

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).

puts: When a verb ends in a voiceless consonant /p t k f θ/ (excluding /s ʃ ʧ/, see loses above), the third person singular is formed by adding /s/ (e.g. sips /sɪps/, hits /hɪts/, licks /lɪks/, stuffs /stʌfs/, unearths /ʌnˈɜːθs). The same pattern applies to possessive s and plural s.

anː When unstressed, as it usually is, the indefinite article an has the weak form /ən/.

the: When unstressed, as it usually is, and immediately followed by a word beginning with a consonant, the definite article the has the weak form /ðə/.

and: When unstressed, as it usually is, and has the weak form /ən/ or /ənd/. Some books say that /ən/ is used before consonants and /ənd/ before vowels, but this is not true. While both forms can be heard before consonants and vowels, /ən/ is much more common than /ənd/. Learners can safely use only /ən/ for the weak form of and because it will never be wrong to do so.

says: The pronunciation of the word says is a little irregular. While say is pronounced /seɪ/, says is pronounced /sez/.

When a verb ends in a voiced sound (i.e. a vowel or one of the voiced consonants /b d ɡ v ð m n ŋ l/), the third person singular is formed by adding /z/. The same pattern applies to possessive s and plural s.

A man loses his dog. So he puts an ad in the paper, and the ad says, “Here, boy!”

A Mathematical Problem

ðər ə ˈθriː ˈkaɪnz ə ˈpiːpl̩ || ˈðəʊz u ˈkæŋ ˈkaʊnt | ən ˈðəʊz u ˈkɑːnt

Key at bottom of page.

Commentary

[Don't worry if you find this overwhelming. Don't let yourself be put off. The same phenomena will come up again and again in these transcriptions. There'll be plenty of opportunities for them to sink in over time. Slow and steady, a little each day, is the key to success.]

there: When there has its existential use (e.g. There's a man outside. /ðəz ə ˈmæn ˈaʊtˈsaɪd/ There's a pen on the table. /ðəz ə ˈpen ɒn ðə ˈteɪbl̩/ There are too many. /ðər ə ˈtuː ˈmeni/ There were two choices. /ðə wə ˈtuː ˈʧɔɪsɪz), it is usually unstressed and has the weak form /ðə/. 

When a word ends in schwa /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 ɔː ɜː eə ɪə ʊə/.

areː When unstressed, as it usually is, are has the weak form /ə/.

kindsː 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.

ofː 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).

people: Phonemically, the final syllable of people is /əl/. When this syllable is preceded by /p/, however, the schwa /ə/ isn't pronounced. Instead the articulators move directly from the position for /p/ to the position for /l/. This is easy to do in the case of /p/ because /p/ is articulated with the two lips and /l/ is articulated with the tongue-tip. These articulators can move independently of each other and so when the lips move apart to release the /p/, the tongue tip is already in position for the /l/ and no intervening schwa /ə/ occurs.

Note that in English, syllabic /l/ is not a phoneme in its own right, but merely a special way of realising the syllable /əl/. This means that when we use a special symbol [l̩] 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).

who: As a relative pronoun, who is usually unstressed and can have the weak form /u/. As an interrogative pronoun, who is usually stressed and has no weak form (e.g. Who is it? /ˈhuː ˈɪz ɪt/ Who's asking? /ˈhuːz ˈɑːskɪŋ).

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).

can: The word can is usually unstressed and has the weak form /kən/. In this case it is stressed in order to contrast it with the following can't.

The final consonant of can undergoes assimilation, changing from /n/ to /ŋ/ because the immediately following word begins with /k/. The consonant /n/ is a voiced alveolar nasal and /ŋ/ is a voiced velar nasal. The change from /n/ to /ŋ/ is a change of place of articulation (not of voicing or of manner of articulation). The place of articulation of the nasal changes to velar because the following consonant is velar (/k/ = a voiceless velar plosive). It is usual for /n/ to change its place of articulation to that of an immediately following consonant, becoming /ŋ/ before velar consonants (/k/ or /ɡ/) or /m/ before bilabial consonants (/p b m/).

and: When unstressed, as it usually is, and has the weak form /ən/ or /ənd/. Some books say that /ən/ is used before consonants and /ənd/ before vowels, but this is not true. While both forms can be heard before consonants and vowels, /ən/ is much more common than /ənd/. Learners can safely use only /ən/ for the weak form of and because it will never be wrong to do so.

There are three kinds of people. Those who can count and those who can't.

Beauty Queen

ɪf ˈbɑːbiz ˈsəʊ ˈpɒpjələ | ˈwaɪ ʤə ˈhæf tə ˈbaɪ ə ˈfrenz

If Barbie's so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?

Commentary
[Don't worry if you find this overwhelming. Don't let yourself be put off. The same phenomena will come up again and again in these transcriptions. There'll be plenty of opportunities for them to sink in over time. Slow and steady, a little each day, is the key to success.]

Barbie: 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).

Barbie's: When unstressed, as it usually is, the word is frequently forms a contraction with the immediately preceding word.

• If the final sound of the preceding word is voiced (as in this case), then is has the form /z/. 
• When the final sound of the preceding word is voiceless, then is has the form /s/, e.g. Jack is well /ˈʤæks ˈwel/.
• 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/.
• This is the same pattern as with possessive s and the third person singular s.

so: In this example, so is stressed, but it isn't always, in which case it can sometimes have the weak form /sə/, e.g. So far as I know... /sə ˈfɑːr əz aɪ ˈnəʊ/.

do you: Unstressed do has the weak form /də/ before a word beginning with a consonant, e.g. Do they know? /də ðeɪ ˈnəʊ/. In quite casual speech you can have the weak form /jə/ before a word beginning with a consonant, e.g If you like /ɪf jə ˈlaɪk/. The sequence do you is so common in spoken English that it has developed a 'contracted' or 'reduced' pronunciation where the /ə/ of do is lost, and the /d/ and /j/ combine (an example of 'coalescent assimilation') to form /ʤ/, resulting in /ʤə/ before consonants and /ʤu/ before vowels, e.g. How do you know? /ˈhaʊ ʤə ˈnəʊ/, Why do you ask? /ˈwaɪ ʤu ˈɑːsk/.

have to: When have to means must, it is usual to pronounce have with a final /f/. This is a kind of assimilation: the /v/ becomes its voiceless equivalent /f/ in anticipation of the following voiceless consonant /t/. This kind of voicing assimilation is unusual in English and only happens here because have to is such a high frequency word-combination. Perhaps a little less frequently, the same process can occur with has to, resulting in the pronunciation /ˈhæs tə/. Probably less frequently again, but still commonly, this process also occurs with had to, resulting in the pronunciation /ˈhæt tə/.

Compare two possible pronunciations of What do they have to sell?

• /ˈwɒt də ðeɪ ˈhæf tə ˈsel/ means What must they sell?
• /ˈwɒt də ðeɪ ˈhæv tə ˈsel/ means What things do they have and intend to sell?

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/.

her: Our joke is ambiguous and could have two different meanings depending on whether the word her is a pronoun (and the indirect object of the sentence) or a determiner (and her friends the direct object of the sentence).

• Pronoun: Why do you have to buy friends for her?
• Determiner: Why do you have to buy the friends that she has?

On paper there's no way of telling the difference. In speech, the pronoun more usually has the weak form /ə/ than /ɜː/, and the determiner more usually has the weak form /ɜː/ than /ə/. For example, when I took her home means I took her to her house, then her will usually be pronounced /ə/, but when it means I took her house, then her will usually be pronounced /ɜː/.

friends: 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.

Experimental First Post

ˈwɒts ˈblæk ən ˈwaɪt | ən ˈiːts laɪk ə ˈhɔːs
ə ˈzebrə





What's black and white and eats like a horse?
A zebra.