Dinner with Guests

ðə ˈrestrɒnt wəz ˈsəʊ ˈbæd | ðət ˈɒn ðə ˈmenjuː | ðə wər ˈiːvn̩ ˈflaɪz ɪn ðə ˈpɪkʧəz

Key at bottom of page.

Comments

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

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

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.

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/.

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

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/. 

were: When unstressed, as it usually is, were has the weak form /wə/.

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/.

even: Phonemically, the final syllable of even 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.

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)

flies: 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.

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

The restaurant was so bad that on the menu there were even flies in the pictures.