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How do the British say duck?
Break ‘duck’ down into sounds: [DUK] – say it out loud and exaggerate the sounds until you can consistently produce them….Below is the UK transcription for ‘duck’:
- Modern IPA: də́k.
- Traditional IPA: dʌk.
- 1 syllable: “DUK”
Why r is silent in British English?
English letters represent spellings but English speech sounds represent pronunciation of the words. English alphabet has 26 letters and these letters represent 44 sounds. That’s why this mismatch between letters and sounds creates a confusion to have correct pronunciation.
Is the R in world silent?
Don’t say the ‘r’ in ‘world’! Not even a tiny bit, it is completely silent as it is followed by a consonant. The ‘l’ in world is dark because it comes after a vowel sound. Your tongue should raise at the back and the front, it is a very soft sound, not like the clear /l/ you find at the beginning of a word.
Why can’t Chinese people pronounce the “R” in the middle of words?
This isn’t due to a rhotacism, however. It’s actually due to the fact that Mandarin (Chinese) words can have an “r” sound in the beginning of a word, but not in the middle or end of a word. This leads them to have issues in their phonotactics and creates an inability to pronounce the English “R” in the middle of words.
What is an example of British cockney speech?
For example, a hallmark of British Cockney speech is dropping T’s in the middle of words. Instead of “getting a bottle of water,” you might be “GEH-ing a BAH-l of WAH-er.” Instead of “waiting for a letter,” you might be “WAY-ing for a LEH-er.” (2, 8) Notice that the T is always dropped on the non-stressed syllable in a word.
How are vowels linked in English?
In English there are different ways that this happens. Consonant to vowel linking – when the first word ends with a consonant sound and the second word begins with a vowel sound. See Radio Programme 1 Vowel to vowel linking – when certain vowels come next to each other an extra sound is added to make the link smooth.
How many different ways are there of spelling this vowel sound?
There are 4 main ways of spelling this vowel sound. There are no rules to help you decide which spelling to use – you have to rely on your visual memory. Now, look at the words in each list. Which do you know?