Difference between revisions of "JNW's English"

From FireSpeakerWiki
Jump to navigationJump to search
m
m (Reverted edit of OxvFo1, changed back to last version by Firespeaker)
Line 41: Line 41:
 
*** Beowulf (/Æ/)
 
*** Beowulf (/Æ/)
 
**** tractor-trailer (the way I said it as a kid) - [ˈtˢɻʰæktɻ ˌtˢɻʰÆlɻ]
 
**** tractor-trailer (the way I said it as a kid) - [ˈtˢɻʰæktɻ ˌtˢɻʰÆlɻ]
−
**** those two 'trailer's have recently merged to [ˈtˢɻʰejlɻ], but trail er is still [ˈtˢɻʰÆlɻ]
+
**** those two 'trailer's have recently merged to [ˈtˢɻʰejlɻ], but trail+er is still [ˈtˢɻʰÆlɻ]
 
*** nightmare - [ˈnʌjtmejɻ]
 
*** nightmare - [ˈnʌjtmejɻ]
 
*** "night mare" - [ˈnʌjtmÆɻ]
 
*** "night mare" - [ˈnʌjtmÆɻ]
Line 51: Line 51:
 
** wagon, hang - [wæjgɩn], [hæjŋ]
 
** wagon, hang - [wæjgɩn], [hæjŋ]
  
−
== /ɩ/ (vs. /ə/
+
== /ɩ/ (vs. /ə/ & /ɪ/) ==
 +
* Reduced vowels are typically realised as [ə] in English:
 +
** about — [ə ˈbau̯t]
 +
** beneath — [bə ˈniːθ]
 +
** Winnepesauki — [wɪ nə pə ˈsɒ ki]
 +
** onomatopœia — [ɑ nə mɑ ɾə ˈpiː ə]
 +
 
 +
* In closed syllalbes, reduced vowels are realised as [ɩ]:
 +
** This is visible in the application of several morphemes.
 +
*** rose-s — /ˈɻɤo̯ zɩz/
 +
*** test-ed — /ˈtʰɛ stɩd/
 +
*** ox-en — /ˈɑk sɩn/
 +
** This can be seen in many other words.
 +
*** Jonathan — /ˈʤɑ nə θɩn/
 +
*** happen(ed) — /ˈhæ pɩn(d)/
 +
** This can also be demonstrated derivationally.
 +
*** religion — /ɻə ˈlɪ ʤɩn/
 +
*** religionise — /ɻə ˈlɪ ʤə nɑi̯z/ (some less morphemic parsings lend to /ɻə ˈlɪ ʤɩ nɑi̯z/, with an almost syllabic [ʤ̩] often
 +
 
 +
* In a closed syllable with a labial coda, reduced vowels are realised as [ə]:
 +
** This is visible in the application of several (clitical) morphemes.
 +
*** he'll've — [ˈhɪl əv]
 +
*** get 'em — [ˈgɛ ɾəm]
 +
** This is visible in some other words, though I can mostly only think of names and made-up words.
 +
*** item — [ˈʌi̯ ɾəm], victim — [ˈvɪk(t) təm]
 +
*** Jacob — [ˈʤe kəp]
 +
*** Caleb — [ˈkʰei̯ ləb]
 +
*** *soroft — [ˈsɔɻ əft]
 +
** I take that back; I seem to've found some good examples
 +
*** turnip — [ˈtɻnəp]
 +
*** victim — [ˈvɪkt təm]
 +
*** system — [ˈsɪs stəm]
 +
*** bottom — [ˈbɑ ɾəm]
 +
*** custom — [ˈkʌs stəm]
 +
 
 +
* Data that still need to be considered:
 +
** words like:
 +
*** confuse
 +
*** condition
 +
** other words like:
 +
*** civil, civilisation
 +
*** get 'im vs. get 'em
 +
*** presumably ('''how do I syllabify this??''')
 +
** the pair mistake [mɨ(s)ʼstejk] / mistook [mɪs'tʊk]
 +
 
 +
== voicing ==
 +
Some consonants are [un]voiced in a way that's unexpected:
 +
 
 +
* Jacob — [ˈʤe kəp]
 +
* Virginia — [ˈfɻʤɪnjə]
 +
* substitute — [ˈsʌpstɪtʉt]
 +
* hubcap — [ˈhʌpkæp] (?)
 +
* ostrich, sandwich — [ ˈɒstɻɪdʒ], [ˈsÆndwɪdʒ]
 +
 
 +
== other ==
 +
* comfortable - [ˈkʰʌ̃ftʰɻb(ə)ɫ]
 +
* Wednesday - [ˈwɛn(d)zdej]
 +
* February - [ˈfɛbjʉwÆɻij]
 +
 
 +
== Elision ==
 +
* fam(i)ly
 +
* fav(ou)rite
 +
* ast(e)roid
 +
* priv(i)lege
 +
* p(o)tato
 +
* p(a)thetic
 +
* k(a)tana
 +
* t(o)mato
 +
=== of /r/?? ===
 +
* su(r)prise
 +
* rese(r)voir
 +
* kinde(r)garten
 +
* Feb(r)uary
 +
* cate(r)piller
 +
 
 +
== Words I never got ==
 +
Because of the loss of sarcasm in fixed expressions using these words (or something like that), I never could tell what they meant—the general idea was there, but as far as I could tell, their antonyms seemed as correct as they did, if not more.
 +
* immaculate
 +
* impeccable
 +
* trivial
 +
 
 +
== Other People ==
 +
 
 +
=== My Family ===
 +
Some family members have "weird" pronunciations:
 +
* [ˈdɑjəpɹ] for [ˈdʌjpɹ] ("diaper")
 +
* [ˈdɑjəmənd] for [ˈdɑjmɩnd] ("diamond")
 +
* [hɒp] for [hɑp] ("hop")
 +
* [ˈrɛs.stɻ.ənt] for [ˈrɛs.stɻ.ɑnt] ("restaurant")
 +
* [wɪð] for [wɪθ]
 +
* [bə ˈkʌs] for [bə ˈkʌz]
 +
* [ə sow ʃij ˈej ʃɩn] for [ə sow sij ˈej ʃɩn] ("association")
 +
* [mə ˈtɻ jəl] for [mə ˈtijɻ ij əl] ("material")
 +
 
 +
=== Media ===
 +
Some media (music, commercials) have objectionable rhymes:
 +
* pauper/copper/whopper
 +
* choclate/pocket
 +
* ‘ooh and aah’ where ‘aah’ == ‘aww’
 +
* see also: [[Other People's English]]
 +
 
 +
== Overall vowel system ==
 +
{|style="text-align: center";
 +
|+ JNW's Vowels
 +
! location !! tense !! lax !! diphthong !! before ɻ !! examples
 +
|-
 +
| high front || i¹ || ɪ,ɨ || ɪw || i (j ← ɪw) || heed, hid, hued, hear/pure
 +
|-
 +
| mid front || e¹ || ɛ ||  || ᴁ || hayed, head, hair
 +
|-
 +
| low front || ᴁ || æ¹ || aw || — (aw ← aw) || hand/hail, had, how, —
 +
|-
 +
| low back || ɒ || ɑ || ɑj || ɒ (aj ← aj) || hawed, odd, high, hard
 +
|-
 +
| mid back || o¹ || ə,ʌ || ʌj || ɔ || hoed, hut, height, hoard/horde/whore
 +
|-
 +
| high back || ʉ¹ || ʊ || ɔj || ɔ || hoot, hood, Hoyt, tour
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
Notes:
 +
* ¹ Long or diphthongal
 +
* ² Can be nucleus of heavy syllable
 +
 
 +
Back to [[Linguistic Musings]]
 +
[[Category:Linguistics]]
 +
[[Category:Phonology]]
 +
[[Category:Phonetics]]

Revision as of 02:52, 8 July 2007

The pronunciation of words, as per Jonathan North Washington

[ʌ]

  • strawberry - [ˈstʰɻʌbÆɹij]
  • wash - [wʌʃ]
  • Washington - [ˈwʌʃɪŋtɩn]
  • squash - [skwʌʃ]

[wɔ]

  • quarter - [ˈkʰɔɹɾɻ] (but quarry - ['kwɔɻij])
  • quartz, quarts, courts - [kʰɔɹts] (is there a difference in aspiration?)

[ɛ]

  • catch - [kʰɛʧ]
  • that (conj) - [ðɛt]

[ʌj]

  • /ɑj/ before voiced consonants is [ɑj]
    • 'eyes' [ɑjz]
    • 'bide' [bɑjd]
  • /ɑj/ before unvoiced consonants is [ʌj]
    • 'ice' [ʌjs]
    • 'bite' [bʌjt]
  • there are "exceptions" (they could be rule-based, having something to do with what counts as syllable-coda)
    • Idaho [ʌj], Ida [ʌj]
    • cider [ʌj], spider [ʌj]
    • icon [ɑj], nikon [ʌj], daikon [ɑj]
    • cyclops [ʌj / ?ɑj], but psycho [ʌj / *ɑj]
  • interesting contrasts:
    • high [ɑj], high school [ʌj]
    • 'I scream' [ɑj], 'ice cream' [ʌj]

[Æ]

See Æ for phonetic information on this vowel.

  • /ej/ before /l,r/ is [Æ]
    • ail/ale - [Æl]
      • Al - [æl] (shows /æ/Æ/ contrast)
      • trailer (before a movie) - [ˈtˢɻʰÆlɻ]
      • trailer (behind a truck) - [ˈtˢɻʰejlɻ]
      • mailing / Maling (/Æ/ej/)
      • Beowulf (/Æ/)
        • tractor-trailer (the way I said it as a kid) - [ˈtˢɻʰæktɻ ˌtˢɻʰÆlɻ]
        • those two 'trailer's have recently merged to [ˈtˢɻʰejlɻ], but trail+er is still [ˈtˢɻʰÆlɻ]
      • nightmare - [ˈnʌjtmejɻ]
      • "night mare" - [ˈnʌjtmÆɻ]
    • air - [Ær]
  • /æ/ before /m,n/ is [Æ]
    • an, hand - [Æn], [hÆnd]
      • Hannah - [ˈhænə]
  • /æ/ before /ŋ,g/ is [æj]
    • wagon, hang - [wæjgɩn], [hæjŋ]

/ɩ/ (vs. /ə/ & /ɪ/)

  • Reduced vowels are typically realised as [ə] in English:
    • about — [ə ˈbau̯t]
    • beneath — [bə ˈniːθ]
    • Winnepesauki — [wɪ nə pə ˈsɒ ki]
    • onomatopœia — [ɑ nə mɑ ɾə ˈpiː ə]
  • In closed syllalbes, reduced vowels are realised as [ɩ]:
    • This is visible in the application of several morphemes.
      • rose-s — /ˈɻɤo̯ zɩz/
      • test-ed — /ˈtʰɛ stɩd/
      • ox-en — /ˈɑk sɩn/
    • This can be seen in many other words.
      • Jonathan — /ˈʤɑ nə θɩn/
      • happen(ed) — /ˈhæ pɩn(d)/
    • This can also be demonstrated derivationally.
      • religion — /ɻə ˈlɪ ʤɩn/
      • religionise — /ɻə ˈlɪ ʤə nɑi̯z/ (some less morphemic parsings lend to /ɻə ˈlɪ ʤɩ nɑi̯z/, with an almost syllabic [ʤ̩] often
  • In a closed syllable with a labial coda, reduced vowels are realised as [ə]:
    • This is visible in the application of several (clitical) morphemes.
      • he'll've — [ˈhɪl əv]
      • get 'em — [ˈgɛ ɾəm]
    • This is visible in some other words, though I can mostly only think of names and made-up words.
      • item — [ˈʌi̯ ɾəm], victim — [ˈvɪk(t) təm]
      • Jacob — [ˈʤe kəp]
      • Caleb — [ˈkʰei̯ ləb]
      • *soroft — [ˈsɔɻ əft]
    • I take that back; I seem to've found some good examples
      • turnip — [ˈtɻnəp]
      • victim — [ˈvɪkt təm]
      • system — [ˈsɪs stəm]
      • bottom — [ˈbɑ ɾəm]
      • custom — [ˈkʌs stəm]
  • Data that still need to be considered:
    • words like:
      • confuse
      • condition
    • other words like:
      • civil, civilisation
      • get 'im vs. get 'em
      • presumably (how do I syllabify this??)
    • the pair mistake [mɨ(s)ʼstejk] / mistook [mɪs'tʊk]

voicing

Some consonants are [un]voiced in a way that's unexpected:

  • Jacob — [ˈʤe kəp]
  • Virginia — [ˈfɻʤɪnjə]
  • substitute — [ˈsʌpstɪtʉt]
  • hubcap — [ˈhʌpkæp] (?)
  • ostrich, sandwich — [ ˈɒstɻɪdʒ], [ˈsÆndwɪdʒ]

other

  • comfortable - [ˈkʰʌ̃ftʰɻb(ə)ɫ]
  • Wednesday - [ˈwɛn(d)zdej]
  • February - [ˈfɛbjʉwÆɻij]

Elision

  • fam(i)ly
  • fav(ou)rite
  • ast(e)roid
  • priv(i)lege
  • p(o)tato
  • p(a)thetic
  • k(a)tana
  • t(o)mato

of /r/??

  • su(r)prise
  • rese(r)voir
  • kinde(r)garten
  • Feb(r)uary
  • cate(r)piller

Words I never got

Because of the loss of sarcasm in fixed expressions using these words (or something like that), I never could tell what they meant—the general idea was there, but as far as I could tell, their antonyms seemed as correct as they did, if not more.

  • immaculate
  • impeccable
  • trivial

Other People

My Family

Some family members have "weird" pronunciations:

  • [ˈdɑjəpɹ] for [ˈdʌjpɹ] ("diaper")
  • [ˈdɑjəmənd] for [ˈdɑjmɩnd] ("diamond")
  • [hɒp] for [hɑp] ("hop")
  • [ˈrɛs.stɻ.ənt] for [ˈrɛs.stɻ.ɑnt] ("restaurant")
  • [wɪð] for [wɪθ]
  • [bə ˈkʌs] for [bə ˈkʌz]
  • [ə sow ʃij ˈej ʃɩn] for [ə sow sij ˈej ʃɩn] ("association")
  • [mə ˈtɻ jəl] for [mə ˈtijɻ ij əl] ("material")

Media

Some media (music, commercials) have objectionable rhymes:

  • pauper/copper/whopper
  • choclate/pocket
  • ‘ooh and aah’ where ‘aah’ == ‘aww’
  • see also: Other People's English

Overall vowel system

JNW's Vowels
location tense lax diphthong before ɻ examples
high front i¹ ɪ,ɨ ɪw i (j ← ɪw) heed, hid, hued, hear/pure
mid front e¹ ɛ ᴁ hayed, head, hair
low front ᴁ æ¹ aw — (aw ← aw) hand/hail, had, how, —
low back ɒ ɑ ɑj ɒ (aj ← aj) hawed, odd, high, hard
mid back o¹ ə,ʌ ʌj ɔ hoed, hut, height, hoard/horde/whore
high back ʉ¹ ʊ ɔj ɔ hoot, hood, Hoyt, tour

Notes:

  • ¹ Long or diphthongal
  • ² Can be nucleus of heavy syllable

Back to Linguistic Musings

Retrieved from "https://wiki.firespeaker.org/index.php?title=JNW%27s_English&oldid=4876"