Questions tagged [pronunciation]
This tag is for questions which a dictionary cannot answer about the sound, intonation, and stress of how words are uttered or produced.
809
questions
0
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0answers
27 views
When 'the' not pronounced as 'thee' in front of vowels
the university
the one
The pronounced as the way it is because university is pronounced as y-, and one w-. Is there any other case it should not be 'thee' even though in front of vowels?
Also I ...
-1
votes
1answer
33 views
'v' that sounds like 'b'
https://youtu.be/zUMnAqJEfT0?t=2133
Does he say "firstobol" or "firstovol"? What do I do if I hear speakers say "b" instead of "v"?
2
votes
1answer
65 views
Weak and strong “You're”
Dictionaries list two pronunciations for you're, a weak pronunciation and a strong pronunciation. In which situations do we use the strong version of you're /jɔːr/, and in which situations do we use ...
0
votes
1answer
67 views
Pronunciation of 'Iran'
Lexico says the first syllable of 'Iran' can only be pronounced as [ɪ], but I constantly hear it pronounced as [aɪ] and Wiktionary lists it as an option (yes, I understand everything about the ...
-1
votes
1answer
51 views
Some people in my company don't know how to pronounce “Butchers” [closed]
Do you pronounce it like "Badgers" or "Batchers"?
0
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1answer
39 views
How to differentiate between a singular noun’s possession and its plural one in spoken English
In spoken English if for example:
someone says “cars tires” then how to know if the speaker is talking about car’s tires or cars’ tires. Because the pronunciation is same for both.
4
votes
2answers
9k views
A undershirt or an undershirt? [closed]
I know the a/an rule, but as I meet both in my readings, I tried to google it, and I find both, with not site or dictionaries telling us we should use the one or the other one.
My question is: are ...
0
votes
0answers
28 views
Pronunciation of “naked” [duplicate]
Why are there 2 syllabuses in the word "naked"? Why is the second syllabus pronunced "id" and is there only one pronunciation for this word?
0
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1answer
36 views
Is this a commonly used expression, “awfully hard to do”?
could some please help to listen what the professor is saying?
it sounds like xx awfully hard to do.
is this a commonly used expression?
2
votes
1answer
159 views
Is there any available explanation for why 'crooked' is pronounced as 'krʊk/ɪd/' not 'krʊk/d/?
What I wrote in the title is my question~
Is there any available explanation for why 'crooked' is pronounced as 'krʊk/ɪd/' not 'krʊk/d/?
Or is it just one of the exceptions for '-ed' ending words and ...
0
votes
1answer
43 views
To native English speaker(preferable British English), how do you pronounce [dz] in rides, roads, boards?
From many youtube videos I watched, 'rides' sounds like 'rise', 'roads' sounds like 'rose'. My question is, are native speakers drop the 'd' sound when followed by the 'z' sound? If not, what is the ...
23
votes
9answers
9k views
Why do Russian names transliterated into English have unpronounceable 'k's before 'h's (e.g. 'Mikhail' instead of just 'Mihail')?
Why can't it be just 'Mihail'? I guess the 'k' is inserted to ensure correct pronunciation, but I don't see how 'Mikhail' and 'Mihail' are pronounced differently.
1
vote
2answers
45 views
How to pronounce ''Water 6 X 1.5 Litre''
It says on the tag '' Water 6 X 1.5 Litre'' . While pronouncing this phrase can i say : '' six bottles of 1,5 liter of water '' . Would it be correct or not ?
4
votes
2answers
111 views
What's the second d in “didn't”, phonetically speaking?
In British English it seems to merge with the n to produce something which isn't on the standard phonetic chart afaict.
1
vote
2answers
86 views
Why do so many people say “equals to” in maths?
I hear a significant number of English-second-language speakers, English-first-language children, and less educated English-first-language peers, say
x equals to three times sine alpha
For example,...
1
vote
1answer
57 views
How to pronounce the mathematical symbols?
For example, 2 squared is 4
(1/4) cubed = one-quarter cubed = 1 over 64
... what will be next after squared and cubed?
2 to the 10th power is equal to 1024.
and why does "power" show up ?
2
votes
1answer
50 views
How to differentiate pairs like “an occupied territory” and “unoccupied territory” in speech
The noun "territory" can be both countable and uncountable, so "an occupied territory" and "unoccupied territory" are both complete noun phrases. The first vowels of the noun phrases are both schwa ...
0
votes
1answer
37 views
How to pronounce grades in US and UK schools?
Grades in school reports are expressed through letters followed or not by a sign like "plus" or "minus". Please how do you pronounce grades like A+ or A-, B+ or C-? I have also heard the phrase "...
0
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1answer
54 views
Pronunciation problem : The word data : Is it pronounced dā-tə, or ˈda?
Recently our Educational Ministry is trying to change the way how to evaluate the English skill of candidates of university tests and it hit on Yahoo! Japan's main page.
A comment says, in American ...
0
votes
1answer
79 views
How can I pronounce “quarter”?
I watched many YouTube videos and they seem to pronunce the first part of "Quarter" exactly the same as "core". It seems that the A is silent reading. Am I correct? Are there any accents that ...
0
votes
1answer
58 views
Is **calculatabe**a spoken mistake?
It sounds like the lecturer is saying
how many of these are
actually calculatabe from others ...
I didn't find this word in cambridge dictionary
Is this a spoken mistake? which should be ...
0
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0answers
59 views
“Waiting” pronunciation like “Wedding”?
Is there any dialect of American English, where "Waiting" is pronounced as "Wedding"?
1
vote
1answer
57 views
Is there any rule for pronouncing the suffix “-less”
I found that the suffix "-less" can have different pronunciations, for example:
borderless /ˈbɔːdələs/
hopeless /ˈhəʊplɪs/
helpless /ˈhɛlplɛs/
So, is there any rule for the pronunciation ...
2
votes
1answer
86 views
If I learn British English, should I stop talking with Americans?
I had the opportunity to speak with several native speakers, It's fun, and they learn my native language, the problem is that several of my language partners speak with an American accent and the ...
0
votes
0answers
50 views
Why is “rival” pronounced different to “pivot”?
In English language, open and closed syllable vowels are pronounced differently even when spelled similarly. This is probably the first rule every student learns about pronunciation.
Several examples ...
0
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0answers
57 views
Minimal pairs for i vs ɪ and is there an important difference?
According to a vowel question in Linguistic SE, English can be considered to have vowels [i ɪ e ɛ æ ɑ ɔ o ʊ u ʌ] which can be reduced to [i e æ ɑ o u ʌ] (plus an orthogonal length or ...
1
vote
1answer
68 views
How do you make the flap t sound as in the words city and letter
I'm having a hard time figuring out the right placement and motions of the tongue when making this consonant. I watched a few videos on this topic. People say that in order to make the sound you don't ...
0
votes
1answer
37 views
Why does the addition of a letter modify the sound of the beginning of this word?
Take these three words:
Soup
Super
Supper
The first two words, Soup and Super both begin with the same sound: soo. However the addition of a p in supper changes the pronunciation from soo to suh (...
0
votes
0answers
34 views
Words whose pronunciations change in sentence
How/where can I find the list of words whose pronunciations depend on the next word in the sentence, like the?
1
vote
1answer
94 views
Wind in “They're going through a tight wind”
I'm a bit confused about the pronunciation and meaning of wind,
in the song Bltizkrieg Bop
there is this line:
"They're going through a tight wind"
I hear it pronounced "waɪnd" like in the verb.
...
0
votes
1answer
71 views
Pronunciation of English phonemes together to clearly say a word
How are the individual English phonemes pronounced to make a whole word? How are they joined in speech to give correct pronunciation?
0
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1answer
77 views
Pronunciation of 'lunch'
I believe that I can pronounce the words 'call' and 'balloon'
"a" in call sounds like "o". To me, there is no difference between "a" in balloon and "u" in lunch. How can we distinguish between them?
0
votes
1answer
39 views
Does “that” have a schwa
https://youtu.be/htmkbIboG9Q?t=481 claims that "that" has a schwa sound.
https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/that
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/that
https://...
2
votes
3answers
179 views
Pronunciation of “kids”
Is "kids" pronounced [kidz] (the same /z/ of "zebra", voiced) or [kids] (the same /s/ of "star", unvoiced) ? I have always heard and pronounced the latter, but I have just seen the former in ...
0
votes
1answer
38 views
About pronunciation of 't+you'
In case of pronuncing "support you", I thougt connecting 't' to 'y' makes a 'ʧ' sound, so that It's sound like "səˈpɔːrtʃu".
but I found many videos in which It's sounded like "səˈpɔːr u".
Which ...
2
votes
3answers
87 views
How to pronounce T in 'not enough'?
My native language is Croatian and I have been listening to A. J. Hoge who is a teacher from San Francisco. What I hear when he says "not enough" is "norinaf". How would one pronounce it?
There are a ...
0
votes
0answers
26 views
Is the word “I'm” pronounced like /ʌm/ or /əm/, instead of /aɪm/, when it is unstressed?
Is the word "I'm" pronounced like /ʌm/ or /əm/, instead of /aɪm/, when it is unstressed? https://vocaroo.com/i/s0aH2YlO4tRU
0
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1answer
35 views
What is the pronunciation of the prefix “RE-” (which mean “again or back”) in a word, /ri:/ or /rɪ/?
Is there any rule to pronounce the prefix "re-" (again or back) in a word?
Because sometimes it's pronounced as /ri:/ like in reread, reapply, rebuil, relive, remarry, rejoin,...
and sometimes it's ...
0
votes
1answer
52 views
Mispronounce dʒ as tʃ - Do native English speakers do that sometimes?
I hear dʒ is pronounced as tʃ in these examples:
J in "jailed" of the sentenence the Judge jailed Jokesters in jucy jails (from this video on youtube)
J in job (from Oxford Dictionary)
J in judge (...
3
votes
1answer
61 views
How to pronounce 'gotta'?
How to pronounce 'gotta'? With 'R' or with 'D'?
You've gotta be kidding.
You've - gara - be kidding.
or
You've - gada - be kidding.
1
vote
2answers
72 views
How to pronounce the phrase “an unreliable person”?
As I mentioned in the topic, I'm confused about how to pronounce "an unreliable person" in a native way, because when I pronounce them seperately, such as an un, I think it sounds a little bit ...
0
votes
1answer
42 views
When the word “our” is unstressed, is it pronounced like /ʌɹ/ or /əɹ/?
When the word "our" is unstressed, is it pronounced like /ʌɹ/ or /əɹ/? For example: https://vocaroo.com/i/s0uXE3Gaahqm
0
votes
1answer
33 views
When the word “want” is unstressed, is it pronounced like /wənt/ or /wʌnt/?
When the word "want" is unstressed, is it pronounced like /wənt/ or /wʌnt/?
https://vocaroo.com/i/s1nUhAfWsc9k
1
vote
1answer
74 views
Is the word “homophone” misleading?
I remember a language learning app that claimed to help users to distinguish between the words like right-write, break-brake, heal-heel, principle-principal, etc.
However, I have long known them as ...
0
votes
1answer
32 views
How do I read “off of” naturally?
He brushes a lock of hair off of my cheek.
Either I should make a break between "off" and "of" or read them linked "offov"?
0
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0answers
18 views
How do I read “don't take” in a linked way with American accent?
I don’t take too kindly to people telling me what to do.
I'm aware of the rule for double t of reading in linked way -- t t turns to d.
But here I think "don't take" turns to "don't dake" would be a ...
0
votes
0answers
35 views
Confusion with /e/ sound
An exercise from English pronunciation in use (Elementary), J. Marks:
Seven of these numbers have /e/. Which are they?
Three, seven, eight, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, seventeen, eighteen, twenty,...
0
votes
1answer
31 views
schwa sound /mən/ sounds like /mæn/ in some dialects?
Most of the dictionaries online pronounce the word fireman the way I expected, but one of them's American pronunciation sounds like /ˈfaɪə(r)mæn/ even though the IPA is still /ˈfaɪə(r)mən/.
Is ...
0
votes
1answer
34 views
Is there a phrase sounds like “sub this straight keen”?
In this video, it sounds as if the lecturer is saying:
...sub this straight keen
A few seconds later, he then says
...so we're taking our function and subbing it in 3
X plus Delta X...
Now ...
0
votes
0answers
32 views
Which one is the correct pronunciation of “the”, before the word “amount”, [ði:] or [ðə]?
What we are taught at school is that
"the" before vowel pronounce as a long "thee" [ði:]
It sounds that the lecturer is saying [ðə]
we can then say that the gradient of this line is equal to the ...
