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Hello everyone, welcome to PhoneTeacs, the show that teaches you how to correctly speak English.
Last time, remember, we saw that, by default, a vowel was pronounced lax, but that,
in some contexts it was pronounced tense. However, today, I ask myself a little
question. Why the O in Tone is not the same as the O in Tonic?
It does not seem strange, don't you think?
Well yes, because in Tone, the O is followed by a consonant and an E at the end of the word, so, obviously,
inevitably, it is tense.
- You're tense like a cramp!
- No, I'm not tense.
- Yes you are tense!
- Well, no.
- If I tell you that you are tense, you are tense! It's not up to you to say I'm not tense. I tell you you are tense, Natacha, that's all!
But then, how is it that that if we add -ic at the end, it gets loose?
It's strange, isn't it?
Well, it's simply explained by the fact that, even if, by default, a vowel is lax,
in some contexts it is tense, and that, in some of these tensing contexts, it is still
lax.
These are called laxing contexts.
So, indeed, a vowel will still be lax if it is in one of two following laxing contexts:
Rule number 8: A vowel will remain lax if followed by the endings -ic, -it, -id or -ish.
State but static, tacit, valid or vanish.
Here we have two pronunciations of the word Aesthete by Céline and Mélissa, thanks to them for their participation.
Let's skip the fact that this word was quite complicated since it uses altogether consonants such as the sounds,
/ s /, / θ /, / t /
which tends to easily put French people in recovery position.
And let's focus on the pronunciation of the vowel of the second syllable. Melissa tends to
pronounce the vowel lax / e / without applying the rule of the last video. Maybe she told herself that there was
a trap or maybe she let herself get influenced by a French pronunciation of the word, since she has
pronounced the A and the E separately, even if here it is not what interests us.
On the other hand, Celine, she will adopt a tense pronunciation / i: /, closer to what an Englishman would do,
since the vowel is followed by a consonant and an E at the end of the word.
Aesthetic but aesthetic, credit, gelid or relish.
Mime but mimic, spirit, rigid, finish.
Tone but Tonic, vomit, solid or admonish.
Beware, for the U, this rule applies only for endings in -ish, so we find
cube, cubic, unit, stupid but punish.
Here we have two pronunciations of the words cubic and punish by Celine and Melissa, thanks again to them
for their participations.
I think we can't have much to say about their pronunciations of the word cubic, because in both
audio extracts, they respect the rule of the tensing context seen in the last video,
which says that a vowel U becomes tense when followed by an stressed syllable or not, as in the word music.
We just saw that the ending -ic did not cause a laxing context on the vowel U,
So here we have the word / kju: bɪk / and not / kʌbɪk /, but later we have two different pronunciations.
On one hand Melissa pronounced / pju: niʃ / probably for the sake of coherence with / kju: bɪk / since, Cubic and Punish
have similar contexts, it seems logical that both U's are pronounced in the same way.
However, it wasn't counting on the laxing context rule that we have just seen, which indicates that
the U will be released if followed by the ending -ish as did Celine on the other hand.
Also, beware to some exceptions, as, for example, basic, hygienic, phonemic, scenic or for the public U.
Rule number 9: a vowel will remain lax if followed by 2 syllables.
We will therefore find exclaim,
but on the other hand vanity, exclamative or jacobite. Aesthete but on the other hand serenity,
Here we have two excellent pronunciations of the word serenity by Celine and Melissa, both have
correctly pronounced the first E pronouncing it lax in serenity, because, as we have seen that
a vowel is pronounced lax if followed by 2 syllables.
The pronunciation was obviously not tense and, in general, people don't pronounce / si: renɪtɪ /, well done to them.
Repetitive, or supremacy.
Divine but on the other hand divinity, revivify or even derivative.
Mode but on the contrary, verbosity, provocative or even modify.
As for the U, do not get worry, rule number 9 does not apply to it, it's always easier like this.
So, we find accused, accusative, nudity or purify.
Again, beware of exceptions, this rule will not apply to compound words, which will keep
their respective pronunciations, but also for words like notify, primacy, privacy or vitamin.
Once more, for the next video, I invite you to send me your pronunciations of the following words, by
audio file, which you send me by mail to the address which appears below and in the description.
I hope you enjoyed this video, if so, you can always put a thumb up,
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In the meantime, I'll tell you see you next time, to see how to speak English properly, even if
everyone does not talk like that and it depends on the region, social class and lots of other things.