English Pronunciation

Question

1. (1) How do you feel about the difference between 'syu' and 'shu' or between 'sya' and 'sha' in terms of enunciation? Do you think there is any difference between them?
(2) Could you tell me how easily native English speakers can notice the phonetic difference between those words during an usual conversation?

2. The sound of 'u' of fulcrum and fusion is different from each other. If there is a word, 'fyusion,' how do you enunciate '-yu-' of 'fyusion?' Is it the same sound as '-u-' of 'fusion' or the third totally different sound?

GPY · Accepted Answer

For (1), it would be helpful if you could give word examples. Are you talking about words like "tissue", "fissure" etc.? I can't straight away think of any "sya" examples. People's perceptions may vary depending on region, age, etc.; to me, "tiss-yoo", "fiss-yoor", etc. feel upper-class or slightly affected or over-precise nowadays. Most people in these parts say "tish-yoo" etc. The difference is easily noticeable in precise enunciation; the less precise, the more "ss" tends to become "sh" I think.

2) "fusion" is pronounced "fyoo-zhun". "fyusion" seems a strange spelling, but if there was such a word it would presumably be pronounced the same, as far as pronunciation is predictable from spelling.

Lucas21c · Answer

Unfortunately, I don't think there is a good word example that I can give you. However, all textbooks written in English for learning Japanese or Chinese use a pair of 'sound' such as 'sha/sya' or 'shy/syu' to teach native English speakers how to pronunce one foreign Alphabet. That is, they suggest two ways to pronunce one same Alphabet. So, here, I wonder whether the pronunciation of 'sha' sounds the same as 'sya' to native English speakers' ears. If you know phonetic symbols, I can make it more clearer, saying this is about the qustion of whether [sju-]/[sja-] sound the same as [?u-]/[?a-].

1. Is the pronuciation of 'shy' the same as 'syai?'

2. Is the pronuciation of 'super' the same as 'shuper?'

I wonder whether you can enunciate 'super' differently from 'shuper.'

CalifJim · Answer

lucas21cthis is about the qustion of whether [sju-]/[sja-] sound the same as [?u-]/[?a-].

They don't sound the same. They are different.

lucas21c1. Is the pronuciation of 'shy' the same as 'syai?'

Absolutely NOT!

lucas21c2. Is the pronuciation of 'super' the same as 'shuper?'

Absolutely NOT!

By the way, in most regions that use American English, it's "soo-per". No "sh". No "sy". The British may use "syoo", however. I don't know.
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You may find something interesting and/or useful among my previous posts on the topic of glide absorption.

See the posts listed here:

CJ

Lucas21c · Answer

If so, can you enunciate 'sha'/'shu' differently from 'sya'/'syu?'

CalifJim · Answer

lucas21cIf so, you can enunciate 'sha'/'shu' differently from 'sya'/'syu,' right?

Yes. I can produce all four sounds.

CJ

GPY · Answer

lucas21cHowever, all textbooks written in English for learning Japanese or Chinese use a pair of 'sound' such as 'sha/sya' or 'shy/syu'

I don't know about Chinese, but in Japanese "sha/sya" etc. are natively just one sound, and the romanisation can be done in different ways, either "sya" literally following the kana, or "sha", which is intended as a better representation, for English speakers, of the way it sounds. (Forgive me if you are Japanese and this is all already obvious to you.) In English, "sy" and "sh" are different sounds, but "sy" is not common, and tends to degrade to "sh" or "shy" in words like "issue", etc. I am struggling at the moment to think of any word that I pronounce with a "sy" sound. Probably there are the odd few somewhere.

lucas21c2. Is the pronuciation of 'super' the same as 'shuper?'

The normal pronunciation of "super" is "soo-p?(r)". An old-fashioned and now affected way of saying it is "syoo-p?(r)". In this case, "sy" has not become "sh", so no one says "shoo-p?(r)", unless they have a lisp or are drunk. (Though actor Sean Connery is famous for saying "s" as "sh". He is Scottish.)

GPY · Answer

GPYI am struggling at the moment to think of any word that I pronounce with a "sy" sound.

Actually, there are some fairly obvious "syoo" ones: "assume", "hirsute", "consume", etc. The "syoo" sound is readily distinguished from the "shoo" sound.

CalifJim · Answer

GPYsome fairly obvious "syoo" ones: "assume", "hirsute", "consume", etc.

All "soo" in my variety of American English, by the way.

The glide /j/ in /ju:/ is retained when preceded by /m/, /p/, /k/, /b/, /g/, /f/, /v/, or /h/, but not usually otherwise. (AmE)

Lucy, music. /lu/ /mju/
dew, few /du/ fju/
Rubik's cube /ru/ /kju/
Newman, human /nu/ /hju/

CJ

Mister Micawber · Answer

lucas21c textbooks written in English for learning Japanese or Chinese use a pair of 'sound' such as 'sha/sya' or 'shy/syu'

These are from the two different transliteration systems still in use, the Hepburn system and the kunrei-shiki, I believe.

GPY · Answer

Mister Micawber lucas21c textbooks written in English for learning Japanese or Chinese use a pair of 'sound' such as 'sha/sya' or 'shy/syu'These are from the two different transliteration systems still in use, the Hepburn system and the kunrei-shiki, I believe.

I didn't notice this before, but presumably "shy" is a typo for "shu"??

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