 #16 (permalink) Sat Jan 10, 2009 14:02 pm How to read 'the' before 'United States'? |
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| Mister Micawber wrote: |
| Of course, Jamie, but you are switching horses on me. I have been speaking of prescriptive rules like 'you must pronounce the as ðə before consonant sounds'. |
Your post made it sound as if there are no guidelines at all for foreign speakers just because not all native speakers hit the prescriptive target.
However, predominant patterns, combined with prescriptive rules, are used to provide guidelines for foreign speakers to emulate.
You're forgetting also that different ways of pronouncing the definite article before a vowel give different impressions. For example, it's very common for native speakers to pronounce "the" as [ðəʔ] before a vowel, pronouncing "the end" as [ðəʔ ɛnd] or "the other one" as [ðəʔ ʌðər wʌn], but this pronunciation strikes many other native speakers as sounding "uneducated". You'll find the "idiot" character in many movies and TV shows using this pronunciation, so foreigners should definitely not use it as a target. They won't be refused a job because of it, or anything like that, but to most people it's not the most "refined" way to pronounce it. |
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Jamie (K)
I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 24 Feb 2006
Posts: 6559
Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA
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Mister Micawber