If the last sound of the first word is a "D", and the first sound of the second word is a "Y", then in between them we can add a "j" so, "told you" would become "toldjyou"

要是第一個字的最後的音是個 "D" 然後下個字的前面的音是個 "Y" 那﹐我們就可以吧一個

"J" 的音塞進去。。。 所以 "told you" 會變成 "toldjyou"

3 weak forms 弱得或輕得說法

A lot of less important words have a weaker form, or pronunciation. Words like can, you, my, that etc 很多比較不重要字有個輕得說法或發音。 象 can, you, my, that 等等

you = y'

can = c'n

of = a' or 'v (depending on the first letter of the following word 看下一個字的前面的字體)

your =y'

that = th't

do = d'

my = m'

than = th'n

them = 'em

to = t'

and = an                an = 'n

(so "and" can become "n" too)

(所以 "and" 也能變成 "n")

the = th'

"go to the movies" = "go t' th' movies" or even: "go d' th' movies"

strung together in a sentence, a lot of these smaller, 'less important' words can change so much it almost seems like a completely new word or even dialect!

這樣連念很多這些小得﹐ 比較不重要得字﹐ 能變那麼多﹐ 你會覺得他聽起來好象個完全新得字或甚至于﹕方言﹗

 

4 linkage 連念

We tend to run our words together when we speak quickly. The structure of each word in the spoken sentence changes dramatically (a lot) as we speed up. If we were to keep the same change in structure but then slow right down, the sentence would sound very strange.

當我們英文講快得時候﹐我們會吧我們的字念在一起。 速度快得時候很多字的發音會變很多。 要是我們保持這個發音變化﹐ 但是吧速度慢下來得化﹐ 講出來的句子會聽起來很怪

How do we link words?

in a sentence, the linkage of words depends on the sounds at the beginning and ends of each word in the sentence. There are three basic ways

1 If the last sound of the first word is a consonant, and the first sound of the second word is a vowel, then the first word's last consonant will move to the front of the second word, so "cup of" becomes "cu pof"

2 If the last sound of the first word is the same as the first sound of the second word then the two sounds

are just pronounced as one, so "what time" would become "wha time"

3 The sounds "S' and "Z" are very strong, if it is the last sound of one word, it will often 'cover' the first

sound of the next word. So "his tie" would become "hi stie"

so altogether....

"what time would you like to have a cup of coffee?"

"but I told you what time I wanted a cup of coffee!"

"wha time would jy' like t' ha' 'va cu' pa' coffee?"

"bu dI tol djy' wha' ti' mI wante da cu pa coffee!"

Even though the sounds may change radically, usually the total number of syllables won't change,

however, occasionally, we can still lose a syllable....

"can I have a look?" (5 syllables) = "ca nI ha va look?" (5) or even worse: "c'I 'va look?" (3!)

"give us a look?" = "g'i sa look?"

A lot of asian languages are actually like the fast forms of English, so that pronunciation of most words doesn't change much with speed, in asian languages. That is: most asian words don't end with consonants - they end with vowels - an open mouth - which makes pronunciation of the following word so much easier!

One thing to remember: even though we have all these pronunciation changes, they are still very consistent, so usually the fast way to say something is just a change in pronunciation to one other form -

that native speakers can understand - and use themselves, everyday!

There are so many more examples of this, so if you have any questions, feel free to contact me at the address, etc, below.

 

You might think this is too far away from what you learnt at the English school, but rest assured that it is very consistent

More Examples
Crazy English

any questions?  email me: andrewboyd@xtra.co.nz

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