rrzo16 Siler! Sound in Brith English Pronunciation
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A most British English
pronunciation rule.
One of the easiest rules to learn when studying British
English pronunciation is that of the silent . It really is
very simple:
RULE
Only say an when it appears before a vowel sound.
Never say an when it appears before a consonant or at
the end of a word.
So in the word ‘fork, you don’t say the < r > because there
is a consonant after it. In the name ‘Charlie’ you don’t say
the for the same reason. However in the word ‘grass’
we do say the < r > because there is a vowel sound afer it.
Linking /r/
The rule also works to join words together. For example,
consider the word ‘mother’ We normally would not say
the because it is at the end of the word, however, ifa
vowel sound begins the next word, we do pronounce it to
join the words:
mother and daughter
the effectively moves on to the beginning of the
word ‘and’
ps:lroruneisionstuiocomisilon+-brish- pronunciation! 15rrzo16
Siler! Sound in Brith English Pronunciation
Intrusive /r/
Sometimes, native speakers join words together with an
/x/ even if there is no < r > in the spelling, some examples
are:
China and India My idea of a joke
This occurs when a schwa appears at the end of a word,
followed by another vowel sound, although some
speakers would argue that it is not correct to join in this
way.
Rhoticity & Accents
‘The technical term for an accent that does not pronounce
<> sounds in syllable-final positions is ‘Non-Rhotic, so a
lot of British English accents are known as non-rhotic.
American English is mainly rhotic ~ speakers say every
written , This is, however, a generalisation, as there
are areas of Britain that are rhotic, and areas of America
that are non-rhotic.
Problems for Non-native
speakers.
Although nearly all students who come to Pronunciation
Studio are rhotic in their own language and therefore
normally rhotic in English, it is normally something that
students can improve quite quickly. In fact the
spelling tells us a lot about which vowel sound to
pronounce, so it is really our friend, On strong syllables,
the after a vowel sound always indicates a long
vowel: /a:/ for car, /a:/ for four, /2:/ for bird, /ea/ for
where, or /1o/ for ‘near’. On a weak syllable it nearly
always indicates /o/ for mother.
Ready to test your knowledge of silent ‘r"? Take the silent
‘r’ class. The lesson includes drills and an exercise, all with
audio.
By Joseph Hudson | May 2Ist, 2018 | Pronunciation | 6 Comments
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