Lost Property

ðə ˈkwɪkɪs ˈweɪ | tə ˈfaɪn ˈsʌmθɪŋ juv ˈlɒst | ɪz tə ˈbaɪ ə rɪˈpleɪsmənt

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.

quickest: The superlative can have the form /ɪst/, as here, or /əst/.

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.

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/.

find: 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 in a suffix.

you’ve: 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).

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/.

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

replacement: When a word begins with the unstressed prefix re-, it can be pronounced /rɪ/, /rə/ or /ri/. When dictionaries such as the Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3^rd ed.) give these three alternatives, it isn’t made clear that the third variant is much less common than the first two variants in General British.

The quickest way to find something you've lost is to buy a replacement.