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MUSCOVITE Posted 13 years ago
Speech & Pronunciation
a phonetics question ( -ng-, -nk-)
Hi,
'?' or 'n'?
Why it is 'n' (not '?') in the word congratulation?
(On the other hand, it is '?' in the words congress, congregation, etc. )
mus-te
'?' or 'n'?
Why it is 'n' (not '?') in the word congratulation?
(On the other hand, it is '?' in the words congress, congregation, etc. )
mus-te
Top answer
It depends on the stress. Whether it is primary or secondary does not matter, what matters is that stress changes the way one aligns articulators. con-GRAT-u-LA-tion (alveolar) CON-gre-GA-tion (velar) CON-gress (velar) vs con-GRESS-ion-al (alveolar)
- It depends on the stress.
- Whether it is primary or secondary does not matter, what matters is that stress changes the way one aligns articulators.
- con-GRAT-u-LA-tion (alveolar) CON-gre-GA-tion (velar) CON-gress (velar) vs con-GRESS-ion-al (alveolar)
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6 Answers
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It depends on the stress. Whether it is primary or secondary does not matter, what matters is that stress changes the way one aligns articulators.
con-GRAT-u-LA-tion (alveolar)
CON-gre-GA-tion (velar)
CON-gress (velar) vs con-GRESS-ion-al (alveolar)
con-GRAT-u-LA-tion (alveolar)
CON-gre-GA-tion (velar)
CON-gress (velar) vs con-GRESS-ion-al (alveolar)
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raindoctorCON-gress (velar) vs con-GRESS-ion-al (alveolar)Very interesting information. Never thought this "sound change mechanism" might be so involved....
Thank you so much!
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MUSCOVITE'?' or 'n'?As stated above, stress patterns are important.
On the other hand, I do occasionally hear the '?' in both patterns.
Note that the vowel in the prefix also changes when the stress pattern changes.
/'ka?gr?s/
/k?n'gr???n?l/
CJ
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CalifJimOn the other hand, I do occasionally hear the '?' in both patterns.I wish I could hear these differences (between the 'n' and ''?') as clearly as native speakers do :-)
Here are a couple more pronunciation related questions.
(1) What is the reason behind using goin' for going (etc)?
(2) Are there native speakers wh
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MUSCOVITEWhat is the reason behind using goin' for goingIt may be written goin' as an imitation of the speech of those who don't pronounce the word going with the /?/, which usually indicates a speaker with some kind of regional accent or the accent of a lower economic class. Here in California I rarely hear goin' (and other in' e
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MUSCOVITE(2) Are there native speakers who still pronounce whine and wine differently? (I have seen dictionaries where whine is transcribed as [hwain] )Yes. Some older speakers of Southern English RP and speakers of many Scottish and Irish dialects use /hw/.
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