The apprentice
Member
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2013
- Member Type
- English Teacher
- Native Language
- Spanish
- Home Country
- Dominican Republic
- Current Location
- Dominican Republic
Dear teachers and members:
In american English (AmE), the /h/ phoneme sometimes is elided in a conversation, but I am not quite sure if this also happens in british English (BrE) too. The following is my exposition about it.
1°) The object pronouns and possessive adjetives him, her and his. When reduced to Schwa and when are not at the end of a sentence, they tend to elide the /h/ phoneme, for examples:
a) Tell him to come / ˈtɛlhəmtəˌkʌm / tends to elide the /h/ sounding as: / ˈtɛləmtəˌkʌm /
b) I told you to give her the book / aɪˈtəʊldʒjətəˌɡɪvhərðəˈbʊk / tends to elide the /h/ sounding as: / aɪˈtəʊldʒjətəˌɡɪvərðəˈbʊk /
c) Is this his house? / ɪzˈðɪshəzˌhaʊs? /tends to elide the /h/ sounding as: / ɪzˈðɪsəzˌhaʊs? /
d) I know her brother / aɪˌnəʊhərˈbrʌðər /tends to elide the /h/ sounding as: / aɪˌnəʊərˈbrʌðər /
2°) When have is preceded by the modal verbs would, could, should, must and might and is reduced to Schwa. It tends to elide the /h/ phoneme and the /d/ phoneme of the preceding modal verb becomes flap. As mentioned above, this happens if have is not at the end of a sentence, for examples:
a) Anything would have been better / ˈɛnɪˌθɪŋˈwʊrəvbɪnˌbɛtər/
b) He could have done much more / hiˈkʊrəvˌdʌnmʌtʃˈmɔr/
c) It should have been you /ɪtˈʃʊrəvbɪnˈju/
d) it must have been love / ɪtˈmʌsəvbɪnˌlʌv / sometimes / ɪtˈmʌstəvbɪnˌlʌv /
e) I might have been an architec / aɪˈmaɪrəvbɪnənˈɑrkɪˌtɛkt/
QUESTIONS :
1) I have noticed that the word that precedes him, her, his and have is always stressed, does this have to do anything with it?
2) Does this occur when the word that precedes him, her, his or have ends with a vowel sound?, as in: I know her brother / aɪ ˌnəʊ hər ˈbrʌðər /
3) Do the modal verbs change into Schwa in the aforementioned sentences?, as would does in the phonetic transcription:
Anything would have been better / ˈɛnɪˌθɪŋ wəd həv bɪn ˈbɛtər/
4) Do I put the primary and secondary stress properly in the phonetic transcriptions I made?
5) Must the phonetic transcription of the sentence '' I told you to give her the book '' be put into two thought groups?, as follows:
/ aɪˈtəʊldʒju/ / təˌɡɪvərðəˈbʊk /
5) I think when the /v/ phoneme in have is before a consonant it is not supposed to be transcribed, it seems to me that it loses its sound, doesn't it?
OBSEVATIONS :
Pronunciation note in the word VEHICLE.
Because the primary stress in vehicle is on the first syllable, the /h/ on the second syllable tends to desapear /ˈviːɪkəl/. A pronunciation with the primary stress on the second syllable and a fully pronounced /h/ is usually considered nonstandard / vɪˈhɪkjʊlər /. In the adjective vehicular, where the primary stress is normal on the second syllable, the /h/ is always pronounced.
As always, I will deeply appreciate your opinion and assistance in this matter
Sincerely,
The Apprentice.
In american English (AmE), the /h/ phoneme sometimes is elided in a conversation, but I am not quite sure if this also happens in british English (BrE) too. The following is my exposition about it.
1°) The object pronouns and possessive adjetives him, her and his. When reduced to Schwa and when are not at the end of a sentence, they tend to elide the /h/ phoneme, for examples:
a) Tell him to come / ˈtɛlhəmtəˌkʌm / tends to elide the /h/ sounding as: / ˈtɛləmtəˌkʌm /
b) I told you to give her the book / aɪˈtəʊldʒjətəˌɡɪvhərðəˈbʊk / tends to elide the /h/ sounding as: / aɪˈtəʊldʒjətəˌɡɪvərðəˈbʊk /
c) Is this his house? / ɪzˈðɪshəzˌhaʊs? /tends to elide the /h/ sounding as: / ɪzˈðɪsəzˌhaʊs? /
d) I know her brother / aɪˌnəʊhərˈbrʌðər /tends to elide the /h/ sounding as: / aɪˌnəʊərˈbrʌðər /
2°) When have is preceded by the modal verbs would, could, should, must and might and is reduced to Schwa. It tends to elide the /h/ phoneme and the /d/ phoneme of the preceding modal verb becomes flap. As mentioned above, this happens if have is not at the end of a sentence, for examples:
a) Anything would have been better / ˈɛnɪˌθɪŋˈwʊrəvbɪnˌbɛtər/
b) He could have done much more / hiˈkʊrəvˌdʌnmʌtʃˈmɔr/
c) It should have been you /ɪtˈʃʊrəvbɪnˈju/
d) it must have been love / ɪtˈmʌsəvbɪnˌlʌv / sometimes / ɪtˈmʌstəvbɪnˌlʌv /
e) I might have been an architec / aɪˈmaɪrəvbɪnənˈɑrkɪˌtɛkt/
QUESTIONS :
1) I have noticed that the word that precedes him, her, his and have is always stressed, does this have to do anything with it?
2) Does this occur when the word that precedes him, her, his or have ends with a vowel sound?, as in: I know her brother / aɪ ˌnəʊ hər ˈbrʌðər /
3) Do the modal verbs change into Schwa in the aforementioned sentences?, as would does in the phonetic transcription:
Anything would have been better / ˈɛnɪˌθɪŋ wəd həv bɪn ˈbɛtər/
4) Do I put the primary and secondary stress properly in the phonetic transcriptions I made?
5) Must the phonetic transcription of the sentence '' I told you to give her the book '' be put into two thought groups?, as follows:
/ aɪˈtəʊldʒju/ / təˌɡɪvərðəˈbʊk /
5) I think when the /v/ phoneme in have is before a consonant it is not supposed to be transcribed, it seems to me that it loses its sound, doesn't it?
OBSEVATIONS :
Pronunciation note in the word VEHICLE.
Because the primary stress in vehicle is on the first syllable, the /h/ on the second syllable tends to desapear /ˈviːɪkəl/. A pronunciation with the primary stress on the second syllable and a fully pronounced /h/ is usually considered nonstandard / vɪˈhɪkjʊlər /. In the adjective vehicular, where the primary stress is normal on the second syllable, the /h/ is always pronounced.
As always, I will deeply appreciate your opinion and assistance in this matter
Sincerely,
The Apprentice.
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