2018-11-01 Pronunciation: can that had

Homework (optional): punctuate those sentences without cheating with Google
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James, while John had had “had”, had had “had had”; “had had” had had the teacher’s approval.
(While John had used simple past, James had used past perfect; the teacher had approved of past perfect.)

I know that that “that” had had “had had” in front of it before you changed it.
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“had” as an auxiliary verb (in past perfect) doesn’t have stress (and is usually reduced to /həd/)
“had” as a main verb (in simple past or perfect tenses) has stress (and is pronounced /hæd/)
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“that” as a conjunction doesn’t have stress: I know that he’s here. /ðət/
“that” as a relative pronoun doesn’t have stress: There’s the man that helped us.
“that” as a demonstrative (pronoun or determiner) has stress:
	I know that’s your book. / I know that book is yours.
	(The determiner often doesn’t have strong stress, but it is usually fully pronounced /thæt/
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“can”, “that”, and “had” are similar because in some cases, if you don’t correctly reduce the pronunciation, people won’t understand you
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I know that that “that” that had had “had had” had had a period after it.

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_buffalo_Buffalo_buffalo_buffalo_buffalo_Buffalo_buffalo
Boston cats (that) Cambridge dogs harass bully Somerville rabbits.
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“Can” before another verb needs to be reduced. At the end of a clause it can be pronounced fully.
Can you speak French? (“can” is reduced)
Yes, I can. (“can” is not reduced)
I can also speak Spanish. (“can” is reduced)
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p. 68 exercise 12 A - Take turns reading sentence (a) or (b), respond to your partner with the correct response.
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Responses to “I can hear you.”
- That’s good, but I can’t hear you.
	“I” and “you” have stronger stress to contrast with the first person’s information.
	(“can’t” isn’t stressed, but it still has the full vowel pronunciation instead of schwa)
- I can hear you, too.
	“I” and “you” might be stressed.
	“can” is unstressed and reduced as usual
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Contrastive stress: stress to show that some information is different than expected (or different than in the last sentence)
I ordered two cheeseburgers. (The waiter gave them to someone else.)
I ordered two cheeseburgers. (The waiter only brought one.)
I ordered two cheeseburgers. (The waiter brought hamburgers.)
I ordered two cheeseburgers. (The waiter forgot that I already asked for them.)

I asked you to buy me ten red roses. (You stole them from the cemetery.)
(There’s no typical conversation where “to” would be stressed, but it could be stressed in a language class if the other person made a grammar or pronunciation mistake.)