标准美语发音的13个秘诀 CD 2 Track 25

 

Exercise 1-52; Reducing Articles                                                       CD 2 Track 25 

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When you used the rubber band with [Däg  zeet  bounz] and when you built your own sentence, you saw that intonation¹ reduces the unstressed words. Intonation is the  peak and reduced sounds are the valleys. In the beginning, you should ma ke extra-high peaks and long, deep valleys. When you are not sure, reduce. In the following exercise, work with this  idea. Small words such as articles, prepositions, pr onouns, conjunctions, relative pronou ns, and auxiliary² verbs are lightly skimmed over and  almost not pronounced. 

You have seen how intonation changes the meaning in words and sentences. Inside a one-syllable word, it distinguishes betwee n a final voiced or unvoiced consonant³  be-ed  and  bet. Inside a longer word,  éunuch vs unί que,  the pronunciation and meani ng change in terms of vocabulary. In a sentence (He seems  nice; He seems nice.), the meaning changes in terms of intent.  

In a sentence, intonation can also make a cl ear vowel⁴ sound disappe ar. When a vowel is stressed, it has a certain sound; when it is  not stressed, it usually sounds like  uh,  pronounced [ə]. Small words like to, at,  or as are usually not stressed,  so the vowel disappears. 

1 intonation   

n.语调，声调；发声

参考例句：

• The teacher checks for pronunciation and intonation.老师在检查发音和语调。
• Questions are spoken with a rising intonation.疑问句是以升调说出来的。

2 auxiliary   

adj.辅助的，备用的

参考例句：

• I work in an auxiliary unit.我在一家附属单位工作。
• The hospital has an auxiliary power system in case of blackout.这家医院装有备用发电系统以防灯火管制。

3 consonant   

n.辅音；adj.[音]符合的

参考例句：

• The quality of this suit isn't quite consonant with its price.这套衣服的质量和价钱不相称。
• These are common consonant clusters at the beginning of words.这些单词的开头有相同辅音组合。

4 vowel   

n.元音；元音字母

参考例句：

• A long vowel is a long sound as in the word"shoe ".长元音即如“shoe” 一词中的长音。
• The vowel in words like 'my' and 'thigh' is not very difficult.单词my和thigh中的元音并不难发。