Timeline for I am a native Italian speaker. How can I avoid putting extra vowels on the end of words that end in consonants when speaking English aloud?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
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| Oct 12, 2015 at 10:46 | comment | added | Steve Jessop | @AlessandroPiccirilli: for what it's worth, even native English speakers will sometimes still produce a very small voiced vowel sound at the end of the word "made", like "made-uh", but the "uh" detectable only with a microscope. One thing to make sure of, though, is if the word "made" is followed by another vowel then start making the vowel before you finish making the consonant: "made in England" is commonly "madin" not "made-uh in". Relatively few speakers will come to a complete halt between "made" and "in". | |
| May 26, 2015 at 18:13 | comment | added | TimR | ... That gradual retraction of the jaw, in tandem with the more rearward placement of the more relaxed tongue, results in a voiced dental | |
| May 26, 2015 at 18:13 | comment | added | TimR | The main difference in pronunciation between "mate" and "made" is an abrupt closing off of the vowel in "mate" and a gradual closing off of the vowel with "made". How is that gradual closing off achieved? The [e] vowel in both words requires the lower jaw to be thrust slightly forward; with "mate" the jaw remains thrust forward as the dental is produced with the tip of the tongue behind the front teeth; with "made" the jaw is retracted in concert with positioning of the (more relaxed) front surface of the tongue against the alveolar ridge... | |
| May 26, 2015 at 17:51 | vote | accept | Alessandro Piccirilli | ||
| May 26, 2015 at 17:51 | comment | added | Alessandro Piccirilli | What about voiced consonants? How can I say "made" if I stop voicing at the end? | |
| May 25, 2015 at 14:29 | comment | added | TimR | Focus your attention on the portion of the tongue at the back of your mouth. It, and the throat muscles, are involved in closing off the voicing of the vowel. | |
| May 25, 2015 at 14:26 | comment | added | TimR |
For the most part, the same principle applies -- the voicing of the vowel must cease prior to taking a mouth/tongue position that stops or partially restricts the air from exiting the mouth; otherwise the result is a plosive expulsion of breath after the final phone. It can happen with final vowels too: In "do", the lips for the final -U- sound partially restrict the airflow, and if the voicing continues while the lips are being retracted, the mouth produces do-uh.
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| May 25, 2015 at 14:18 | comment | added | Alessandro Piccirilli | What about other sounds? | |
| May 25, 2015 at 14:06 | history | answered | TimR | CC BY-SA 3.0 |