2019-08-07 Pronunciation: reduced structure words

Greg Malivuk
gmalivuk@staffordhouse.com
http://www.pastebin.com/u/gmalivuk - notes from all classes
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p. 64 gives a list of structure word categories
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p. 65 exercise 8A - Listen and repeat the sentences.
What do you notice about the timing?
- The time between each stressed syllable is the same.
- The pronunciation of the unstressed words is reduced.
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get 		down 	 end 		town
get 		down to the end    of 	town
I can get   right 	down to the end of the town.

I can -> I c’n
to the -> t’the
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p. 66 exercise 9A shows some common reductions.
- One of the most noticeable reductions is unstressed vowels become schwas [ə].
- Often more importantly, they are also pronounced much shorter. (Sometimes ə disappears.)
- /h/ is dropped at the beginning of words (and ‘th’ for “them”)
- /v/ can be dropped in “have” or “of” before a consonant.
- /n/ can be pronounced like [m] or [ŋ] (the ‘ng’ sound) depending on the next consonant
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“date of birth” and “data birth” can sound the same
It’s common for native speakers to incorrectly write “should of” instead of “should’ve”
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p. 67 part 10 - Listen to the sentences. Write the full words in the blanks.
2 her some
3 I’ll, and
4 the, to
5 the, of
6 to, to
7 Is he
8 Will the
9 Did he (“did you” often sounds like “didja”)
10 is an, at
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Reductions often include the same sound changes inside words:
t -> flap (got to -> gotta)
	nt -> n (don’t know -> dunno)
d+y -> j (did you -> didja)
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p. 67-68 exercise 11A - Ask and answer the questions. Practice reducing and linking the sounds in the response.
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Homework: Write 5 sentence using some of the words on p. 66. Practice saying them with reduced pronunciations.