The "How Do You Pronounce X" Thread

[Rounin Ryuuji]

Oh, I've noticed that Donna Burke (an Australian) in interviews tends to say "accent" as [ɛk.sʌ̃(n)t̚], which sounds much nicer than when I say it, so I tend to associate [æ] > [ɛ] with Australia and New Zealand.

[Travis B.]

My /æ ɛ eɪ/ are typically compressed into a very small vowel space, being [ɛ] natively (although I picked up [i̯ɛ] from my ex), [ɜ̟] (though /ɛl/ is more centralized as [ɜɤ̯]) and [e̞] respectively. I would not be surprised if the dialect here in the future actually collapsed the distinction at least two of these three vowel phonemes in the future.

[Travis B.]

Oh, I've noticed that Donna Burke (an Australian) in interviews tends to say "accent" as [ɛk.sʌ̃(n)t̚], which sounds much nicer than when I say it, so I tend to associate [æ] > [ɛ] with Australia and New Zealand.

Is that really with a back vowel?

(I ask because my dialect has true [ʌ] and it sounds nothing like [ɐ], which is commonly what people mean when they write "[ʌ]".)

[Rounin Ryuuji]

Is that really with a back vowel?

(I ask because my dialect has true [ʌ] and it sounds nothing like [ɐ], which is commonly what people mean when they write "[ʌ]".)

I have trouble perceiving the difference between [ʌ] and [ə] (even with an audio sample, it's hard to hear the difference; for me, at least), so it's possible it was just a schwa that sounded a bit more emphasised than I would normally make it, but it certainly wasn't [ɐ] (I think that's mostly a UK thing); I can tell the difference between [ʌ] (which I have, if the Wikipedia audio samples are correct) and [ɐ] (which, if I were to approximate it in my English, would end up with the "cot-caught-father-bother" vowel, not the "cut"-vowel, which I don't perceive as [a]-like, but rather as [ə ɜ ø]-like). It was either back or very central, and not low-open-mid, though. I think I might maybe have an odd way of perceiving and mentally classifying vowels, now that I articulate all that.

[jal]

I often confuse /æ ɛ/ when I hear other people speak

I know how that feels. As a non-native speaker of a language that doesn't have /æ/ (Dutch), /æ/ maps to /ɛ/. Difficult to hear the difference, and difficult to keep it in mind while pronouncing. So often I start to write "exce..." when I have to correct myself to "accept". In fact, a well-know Dutch internet provider calls itself "XS4ALL", which is meant to be "access for all" (but now reads "excess for all")...


JAL

[Sol717]

Oh, I've noticed that Donna Burke (an Australian) in interviews tends to say "accent" as [ɛk.sʌ̃(n)t̚], which sounds much nicer than when I say it, so I tend to associate [æ] > [ɛ] with Australia and New Zealand.

NZE raises TRAP (typical realisation: [ɛ]), but it also raises DRESS (typical realisation: [e]), so the two remain reasonably distinct within a single idiolect. If you've got multiple speakers, things get more difficult; the amount of raising that TRAP and DRESS undergo varies quite a bit sociolectally, so one person's TRAP can sound like another's DRESS and vice versa. AusE is a whole 'nother can of worms; I don't feel qualified enough to really go into it.

[Travis B.]

I often confuse /æ ɛ/ when I hear other people speak

I know how that feels. As a non-native speaker of a language that doesn't have /æ/ (Dutch), /æ/ maps to /ɛ/. Difficult to hear the difference, and difficult to keep it in mind while pronouncing. So often I start to write "exce..." when I have to correct myself to "accept". In fact, a well-know Dutch internet provider calls itself "XS4ALL", which is meant to be "access for all" (but now reads "excess for all")...

I am the opposite way around; other people's /ɛ/ often maps to my /æ/ but I practically never hear other people's /æ/ as my /ɛ/, because I hear anything from [æ] to [iɛ] as /æ/ but /ɛ/ to me is always an at least lightly centralized open-mid vowel (and the centralization is the key difference between my own /æ/ and /ɛ/ most of the time).

[Travis B.]

I have just heard [tɕʰəːˈʁˤɛ̃tʃəːɰəː] unelicited in the wild (from my daughter, she wants one as a pet) complete with initial alveolopalatal affricate.

[jal]

I have just heard [tɕʰəːˈʁˤɛ̃tʃəːɰəː] unelicited in the wild (from my daughter, she wants one as a pet) complete with initial alveolopalatal affricate.

I haven't got a clue what that is supposed to be... :D


JAL

[bradrn]

I have just heard [tɕʰəːˈʁˤɛ̃tʃəːɰəː] unelicited in the wild (from my daughter, she wants one as a pet) complete with initial alveolopalatal affricate.

I haven't got a clue what that is supposed to be...

Tarantula, I’m guessing.

[Travis B.]

I have just heard [tɕʰəːˈʁˤɛ̃tʃəːɰəː] unelicited in the wild (from my daughter, she wants one as a pet) complete with initial alveolopalatal affricate.

I haven't got a clue what that is supposed to be...

Tarantula, I’m guessing.

Yep.

[Rounin Ryuuji]

It took me a moment to figure it out, too.

[Travis B.]

It is one of the odder pronunciations in my dialect. (Of course in more formal speech one typically does not affricate the initial /t/, even though it tends to be at least a bit palatalized.)

[Rounin Ryuuji]

Is your [ʁ] a fricative or an approximant?

[Travis B.]

Is your [ʁ] a fricative or an approximant?

It is a pharyngealized uvular approximant, aka a "bunched r".

[Space60]

How do you pronounce "idea"? I am American and I pronounce it with two syllables. The last syllable sounds like a nonrhotic pronunciation of the word "dear".

[Nortaneous]

How do you pronounce "idea"? I am American and I pronounce it with two syllables. The last syllable sounds like a nonrhotic pronunciation of the word "dear".

three syllables for me but two is well enough attested that Shavian has a single letter for /iːə/

[bradrn]

How do you pronounce "idea"? I am American and I pronounce it with two syllables. The last syllable sounds like a nonrhotic pronunciation of the word "dear".

[ɑ͡iˈdi.ɐ] — the last two syllables are homophonous with dear [ˈdi.ɐ]

[Imralu]

[ɑe̯ˈdɪː] before a consonant
[ɑe̯ˈdɪːɹ] before a vowel
[ɑe̯ˈdɪɐ̯] pre-pausa

[Travis B.]

Trisyllabic, as [aːe̯.ˈdiː.ə(ː)]