标准美语发音的13个秘诀 CD 3 Track 14

 

Exercise 4-2: Betty Bought a Bit of Better Butter    CD 3 Track 14 

In the sentence Betty bought a bit of better butter, all of the Ts are in weak positions, so they all sound like soft Ds. Repeat the sentence slowly, word by word: [Beddy ... badə... bidə... bedder ...  budder]. Feel the tip of your tongueflick across that area behind your top teeth. Think of the music ofa cello¹ again when you say, Bettybought a bit ofbetter butter.

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If you speak any language—such as Spanish, Japanese, Hindi, Italian, or Dutch, among others— where your R touches behind the teeth, you are inluck with the American T. Just fix the association in your mind so that when you see a middle position T, you automatically give it your native R sound. Say, Beri bara bira ... with your native accent. (Not if you are French, German, or Chinese!)

Along with liaisons², the American T contributes a great deal to the smooth, relaxed sound of English. When you say a word like atom, imagine that you've been tothe dentist and you're a little numb³, or that you'vehad a couple of drinks, or maybe that you're very sleepy. You won't be wanting to use a lot of energy saying [æ•tom], so justrelax everything and say [adəm], like the masculine name, Adam. It's a very smooth, fluid sound. Rather than saying, BeTTy boughT a biT of beTTer buTTer, which is physically⁴ more demanding, try, Beddy bada bidda bedder budder. It's easy because you really don't need much muscle tension to say it this way.

The staircase concept will helpclarify the various T sounds. The American T can be a little tricky if you base your pronunciation on spelling. Here are five rules to guide you.

1.  T is Tat the beginning of a word or in a stressed syllable⁵.

2.  T is D in the middle of a word.

3.  T is Held at the end of a word.

4.  T is Held before N in -tain and -ten endings.

5.  T is Silent after Nwith lax vowels⁶.

1 cello   

n.大提琴

参考例句：

• The cello is a member of the violin family.大提琴是提琴家族的一员。
• She plays a melodious cello.她拉着一手悦耳的大提琴。

2 liaisons   

n.联络( liaison的名词复数 )；联络人；（尤指一方或双方已婚的）私通；组织单位间的交流与合作

参考例句：

• She embarked on a series of sexual liaisons with society figures. 她开始接二连三地与社会名流有染。 来自辞典例句
• One of Wentworth's favorite movies is Dangerous Liaisons. went最喜欢的电影之一是《危险关系》。 来自互联网

3 numb   

adj.麻木的，失去感觉的；v.使麻木

参考例句：

• His fingers were numb with cold.他的手冻得发麻。
• Numb with cold,we urged the weary horses forward.我们冻得发僵，催着疲惫的马继续往前走。

4 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

5 syllable   

n.音节；vt.分音节

参考例句：

• You put too much emphasis on the last syllable.你把最后一个音节读得太重。
• The stress on the last syllable is light.最后一个音节是轻音节。

6 vowels   

n.元音，元音字母( vowel的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Vowels possess greater sonority than consonants. 元音比辅音响亮。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Note the various sounds of vowels followed by r. 注意r跟随的各种元音的发音。 来自超越目标英语 第3册