0
Petusek Posted 10 years ago
Speech & Pronunciation

Pronunciation of 'as' in 'as to/for'

Hello everyone,

I'm not sure how to pronounce the 'as' in 'as to' and 'as for'.

Should its pronunciation be strong, that is, should it be /æz/, or should it be weak, that is, /?z/.

And, as to the 'to' and 'for' in 'as to' and 'as for', respectively, should their pronunciation be weak, or strong?

I suppose there are four options altogether -- at least from the purely mathematical point of view:

a. strong - strong

/'æz 'tu?/
/'æz 'f??(r)/

(seems unlikely in natural contexts)

b. strong - weak

/'æz t?/
/'æz f?(r)/

(the longer I'm thinking about it, the more natural it's getting; I've completely lost any sense of normality by now)

c. weak - strong

/?z'tu?/

/?z'f??(r)/

(would be a stress pattern similar to 'without' or 'within')

d. weak - weak

/?zt?/

/?zf?(r)/

(would be a pattern similar to preposition + article in non-emphatic contexts)

I realize their pronunciation may largely depend on the context, but as I'm not a native speaker, I tend to be influenced by patterns observed in other languages, including my mother tongue.

Many thanks for any comments!

P.
  

Top answer

petusek 'as to' and 'as for'. r] "as" takes the primary stress. "to" (or "for") takes a secondary stress.

  • petusek 'as to' and 'as for'.
  • r] "as" takes the primary stress.
  • "to" (or "for") takes a secondary stress.
  • ].
  • CJ
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

4 Answers
0
petusek'as to' and 'as for'.
['æz ?tu] ['æz ?f?r]

"as" takes the primary stress. "to" (or "for") takes a secondary stress.

In faster speech [ u] may be reduced to [?].

CJ
0
Perfect! Thanks a lot!

Since I didn't expect the strong-strong option to be the right one, I didn't bother to differentiate between primary and secondary stress. Thank you for this additional information.

I wonder, however, whether this is the same in all varieties of English (especially British and Australian), and whether the vowels in <to>/<fo
0
petusekI wonder, however, whether this is the same in all varieties of English (especially British and Australian)
I speak American English, so that's what I gave you. All bets are off regarding pronunciations in other varieties of English.

CJ
0
petusek: I wonder, however, whether this is the same in all varieties of English (especially British and Australian)
CalifJim: I speak American English, so that's what I gave you. All bets are off regarding pronunciations in other varieties of English.CJ
Oh, to be sure, I'm really grateful for your reply and do appreciate your help. Yo

Related Questions