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 Wed Sep 27, 2006 0:08 am Vowel sounds |
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That's the way it is in English, Jorge! Each vowel can have different sounds. The 'a' in 'age', is pronounced [ei]; in the first syllable of 'language', it's [a]; in the second (unstressed) syllable, it's [i]. Other sounds for the 'a' are [a:], as in 'car', [9] (schwa), as in 'ago', [e], as in 'any' and [o:], as in 'also'.
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Conchita
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| Wed Sep 27, 2006 1:10 am Pronunciation rules in English |
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Part of the reason, Jorge, is that the /ei/ in age is in a stressed syllable, while in language the vowel is unstressed.
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Mister Micawber
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| Wed Sep 27, 2006 5:35 am Pronunciation rules in English |
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| Mister Micawber wrote: | | Part of the reason, Jorge, is that the /ei/ in age is in a stressed syllable, while in language the vowel is unstressed. |
So, Mister Micawber, is this a rule? And can I say that this rule applies to "chocolate" and "classmate"? |
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Jorge Junior
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| Wed Sep 27, 2006 8:34 am Pronunciation rules in English |
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Pronunciation does not have 'rules' in the sense that grammar does, Jorge, but--yes, unstressed vowel sounds tend to be shortened and centralized. Your second pair of words seems to reflect this in the same way that your first pair does.
Be cautioned, however, that there are other factors also-- for instance, the words or wordparts may have very different etymologies.
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Mister Micawber
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| Wed Sep 27, 2006 10:47 am Pronunciation rules in English |
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| Jorge Junior wrote: | | "chocolate" and "classmate"? |
If I may just add a quick footnote: while the 'a' in 'chocolate' is a short unstressed sound [9], the second 'a' in 'classmate' is pronounced [ei], although it's in the unstressed syllable. |
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Conchita
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