Monday 5 March 2018

Thinning on Top

aɪ ˈnjuː aɪ wəz ˈɡəʊɪŋ ˈbɔːld | ˈwen ɪt wəz ˈteɪkɪŋ ˈlɒŋɡər ən ˈlɒŋɡə | tə ˈwɒʃ maɪ ˈfeɪs

Key at bottom of page.

Comments

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

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

when: In all its various uses when is usually stressed and has no weak form.

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

longer: The adjectives long, strong and young are pronounced /lɒŋ/, /strɒŋ/ and /jʌŋ/. When the comparative and superlative suffixes are added, however, an additional /ɡ/ is inserted: /lɒŋ ˈlɒŋɡə ˈlɒŋɡɪst/, /strɒŋ ˈstrɒŋɡə ˈstrɒŋɡɪst/, /ˈjʌŋ ˈjʌŋɡə ˈjʌŋɡɪst/.

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.

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/.

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

I knew I was going bald when it was taking longer and longer to wash my face.

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