Phát âm tiếng anh nâng cao – Unit 1: Giọng (Accents 1) – Học Hay

A.

Mặc dù biết cách phát âm tiếng Anh, nhưng rõ ràng là không phải tất cả mọi người đều phát âm tiếng Anh theo cùng một cách giống nhau. Ngay cả giữa các quốc gia dùng tiếng Anh như là ngôn ngữ chính, thì vẫn có sự khác biệt. Và chúng ta có thể phân biệt giữa cách phát âm của Tiếng Anh của người Anh, tiếng Anh của người Mỹ, Úc, Nam Phi….

B.

Sẽ có sự khác biệt trong cách phát âm nguyên âm và phụ âm, cách mà từ được nhấn mạnh và ngữ điệu. Hãy lắng nghe và để ý sự khác biệt trong cách phát âm giữa tiếng anh Anh và tiếng anh Mỹ trong những câu sau. Bạn sẽ nghe tiếng anh nước Anh trước

That’s better	Ở Mỹ, âm /t/ thường được phát âm như âm /d/ khi nó đứng giữa 2 nguyên âm
I’m picking up the car next Tuesday.	- car = /kɑ:/ ở Anh và /kɑ:r/ ở Mỹ. Ở Anh, âm /r/ chỉ được phát âm khi nó đứng trước một nguyên âm. Trong khi ở Mỹ, âm /r/ vẫn được phát âm khi nó đứng trước 1 phụ âm hay ở cuối từ.   - Tuesday = /'tju:-/ ở Anh và /'tu:-/ ở Mỹ. Âm /tj/, /nj/, /dj/… không được dùng ở Mỹ.
What’s your address?	Cùng 1 từ nhưng ở Anh và Mỹ sẽ có cách đánh dấu trọng âm khác nhau. Vd: a’dress (Br) và ‘adress (US)
I went out because I was hot and wanted some fresh air.	Một số người Mỹ (cũng như Úc hay New Zealand) sẽ lên tông giọng ở 1 số câu khẳng định/phát biểu. Trong khi người Anh sẽ hạ tông giọng xuống

 

C.

Ngoài giọng Anh và giọng Mỹ, còn có nhiều kiểu giọng nói tiếng Anh khác. Hãy nghe và để ý đến sự khác biệt trong cách phát âm giữa những câu sau. Người nói ‘BBC English’ sẽ nói trước, sau đó là người nói từ Birmingham.

See you tonight.	Nguyên âm thứ 2 trong từ ‘tonight’ được phát âm là /ai/ theo giọng BBC English nhưng lại là / ɔi/ (giống từ boy) theo Birmingham.
Are those your brother’s?	- Nguyên âm trong từ ‘those’ được phát âm là /əʊ/ theo giọng BBC English nhưng lại là /aʊ/ (giống từ now) theo Birmingham.   - Nguyên âm đầu tiên trong từ ‘brother’s’ được phát âm là /ʌ/ theo giọng BBC English nhưng lại là /ʊ/ (giống từ would) theo Birmingham.
She was smoking.	Âm cuối cùng trong từ có –ing được phát âm là / ŋ/ theo giọng BBC English nhưng lại là / ŋg/ theo Birmingham, từ -g được phát âm.

 

1.1 Listen. You will hear speakers from Britain, the USA, Canada, Australia and South Africa ta l king about what they enjoy doing in their spare time.

Which of these accents are you most familiar with? Is there one you find easier to understand than the others?

1.2 Here i s a text read aloud first by a British English speaker and then an American English speaker. Listen as many times as you need and note differences in pronunciation that you observe, focusing on the underlined words. A few are done for you. (It is not necessary to use phonemic symbols in this exercise, but a list can be found on page 192 if you want to refer to it.)

1.3 You will hear four more people talking about what they enjoy doing in their spa re time. They are from northern England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Listen as many times as you need and write brief notes about what they say.

northern England: ............................................................

Scotland: ........................... ........................

Wales: .........................................................................

Northern Ireland: ............................................................................

 

Now read the transcripts in the Key. Are there particular features of their pronunciation that you had problems understanding? In what ways is their pronunciation different from BBC English - that is, British English spoken without a regional accent (see Unit 2)?

 

ĐÁP ÁN

1.1

Speaker 1

I don’t get a lot of time to myself these days, but if I have a couple of hours to spare then I go down to the tennis club. I’ve just joined a tennis club near me and we’ve moved to a new house and er the tennis courts are right outside the back of my garden, so I just literally walk down and go through the gate and spend a couple of hours knocking balls about.

Speaker 2 (United States)

When I’ve got some free time um I like to read. Usually I avoid the latest fiction and look for novels or novelists that I’ve always known about and wanted to read. But occasionally I just stroll through a bookshop and sometimes it’s just the cover of a book that makes me grab it and take it home.

Speaker 3 (Canada)

When I’ve got spare time I like to go to the lake. It’s about a twenty minute drive and when I get there I go water skiing. I just love water skiing when the weather’s good. And afterward if I’ve got enough energy, I pick Saskatoon berries on the lane behind the cabin. And later on in the week I make some pies.

Speaker 4 (Australia)

My favourite thing to do on a sunny day is to go to the beach. It takes about an hour from my house. I have to get the train and a bus, but it’s worth it. Lots of my friends live near the beach, so it’s always the perfect way to catch up and enjoy the sunshine.

Speaker 5 (South Africa)

One of my favourite things to do when I’ve got a bit of spare time is to go fishing with my friends. Er we get a bit of tackle together, the fishing rods, pile it all into the back of a four-by- four and we head up into the mountains. There’s some wonderful streams up there, well stocked with trout, and carp, and bream. We normally take a bit of a picnic up, you know, some bread rolls, and some ham and cheese, and it’s just a nice day out.

1.2

	British (Br) vs American (US)
magazine	The stress is different: on the 3rd syllable (maga'zine) in Br and on the 1st syllable (‘magazine) in US.
common	The first vowel is different: / ɒ/ (as in ‘hot') in Br and / ɑ:/ (as in ‘car’) in US.
research	The stress is different: on the 2nd syllable (re'search) in Br and on the 1st syllable (‘research) in US.
over	There is a sound close to /r/ at the end of the word in US, but in Br it ends with a vowel.
forty	The ‘t’ is ‘flapped’ in US so that it sounds like ‘d’
overweight	(See ‘over’ above.)
survey	There is a sound close to /r/ before /v/ in US, but not in Br.
walk	The vowel is different: / ɔ:/ (as in ‘door') in Br and / ɑ:/ (as in ‘car’) in US.
better	The 't' is ‘flapped’ in US so that it sounds like ‘d’
leisure	The first vowel is different: /e/ (as in ‘ten’) in Br and /i:/ (as in ‘see’) in US.
understandable	There is a sound close to /r/ before ‘-stand-' in US, but not in Br.
exercise	There is a sound close to /r/ before ‘-cise’ in US, but not in Br.
schedule	The first consonant is different: / ʃ / (as in ‘she’) in Br and /sk/ in US. (Although note that some speakers of Br say /sk/ at the beginning of ‘schedule’)

1.3

1 (northern England)

When I get a day off, I like to go up into the Yorkshire Dales. These are sort of hills, er about twenty miles from where I live. And I'll er walk through the day. [’ll set off while it’s still dark and walk for about eight hours. And at the end of that finish up in a village somewhere and have a nice meal. Here are some of the differences you may have noticed between this accent and BBC English:

- the vowel in ‘I’, ‘like’, ‘nice’ (/aɪ/ in BBC English) is more ‘open’, beginning with a sound close to /a:/ (as in ‘car’)

- the vowel in ‘walk’ (/ɔ:/ in BBC English) is said almost as two vowels / ɔ:/ + /ə/

- the ‘r’ sound in ‘for about’ is said with a slight tap of the tongue behind the top teeth

2 (Scotland)

I live in the country and I’m I’m quite lucky because where I live is sort of on the top of um a range of low, flat hills. So it’s quite windy. On good days, I like to take my children out and we go and fly kites. The children have got little kites, because obviously if it’s too windy and with a big kite it would be really too, too much for them, they couldn’t control it. Um but they they thoroughly enjoy being out just just in the fresh air.

Here are some of the differences you may have noticed between this accent and BBC English:

-‘r’ is pronounced where it would not be in BBC English (in ‘sort’, ‘for then’, ‘air’) and said with a flap of the tongue

- the vowel in ‘like’, ‘fly’, ‘kite’, etc. (/aɪ/ in BBC English) begins with a sound close to ‘ee’ (/i:/)

- the vowel in ‘low’, ‘so’, ‘go’ (/əu/ in BBC English) is pronounced more like a simple vowel, close to /ɔ:/

3 (Wales)

In my spare time I really like visiting gardens. Usually, the gardens of big houses. And at every time of the year there’s something different to see. The spring, of course, is the best time, when everything’s coming into bud, and then later in the summer into full flower. It’s really wonderful. And even when it’s raining, you can still get great pleasure visiting gardens.

Here are some of the differences you may have noticed between this accent and BBC English:

- the vowel in ‘year’ (/ɪə/ in BBC English) is pronounced with more rounded lips

- the vowel in ‘gardens’ (/ɑː/ in BBC English) is more ‘open’, beginning with a sound close to /æ/ (as in ‘cat’)

- the /r/ in ‘raining’ and ‘really’ is said with a flap of the tongue

4 (Northern Ireland)

Usually, ’cause erm I’m working during the week er and sometimes on a Saturday as well the only day off that I have would be a Sunday. Er and on Sunday we like to get up early, make a big breakfast and if the weather’s good er I take my kids for a long walk in the country. Erm we go off er with our little fishing rods and sometimes er go down to the local stream and with a net and try and er catch a few tiddlers or something like that.

(Note: A tiddler is a very small fish.)

Here are some of the differences you may have noticed between this accent and BBC English:

- the vowel in ‘usually’ and ‘during’ (/u:/ in BBC English) is pronounced rather like the vowel in ‘good’ (/ʊ/)

- the vowel in ‘off’ (/ɒ/ in BBC English) is pronounced with more rounded lips

- the vowel in ‘stream’ (/i:/ in BBC English) is pronounced almost as two vowels /i/ + /ə/