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EyeSeeYou Posted 20 years ago
Speech & Pronunciation

Syllable DE

I sometimes doubt how to pronounce the 'de' syllable in certain words. For instance, the 'de' in 'december' is /di/, while the 'de' in demand is /dI/. Are there any rules to know it beforehand?
  

Top answer

If it unstressed it's probably ? , and it probably doesn't matter which one you use. I use ?

— Anonymous

  • If it unstressed it's probably ?
  • , and it probably doesn't matter which one you use.
  • I use ?
  • for both "december" and "demand".
  • You can go by the pronunciation in a good dictionary.
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9 Answers
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If it unstressed it's probably ? or ?, and it probably doesn't matter which one you use. I use ? for both "december" and "demand".

You can go by the pronunciation in a good dictionary.
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Sorry, but I am not able to read the phonetic symbols you wrote, all I see are squares.
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The symbols I used were schwa and a high front vowel, as in "it". I use schwa for both "december" and "demand".
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Here's what Alienvoord said in XSAMPA converted from IPA:

"If it unstressed it's probably [ @ ] or [ I ], and it probably doesn't matter which one you use. I use [ @ ] for both "december" and "demand"."

Same for me, I would not use [di] for "December" but [ d@ ] instead.
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0 In standard British English, however, both 'December' and 'demand' have the same [di] sound.0-
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0>> In standard British English, however, both 'December' and 'demand' have the same [di] sound. <<02br
02br
00Interesting. In North American English it's almost always a schwa. 0-
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0 Depending on how fast I'm speaking, I do 01i00December02i00 with either [ i ] or [ I ].02br
00 I do 01i00demand02i00 with .02br
02br
00 I consider [ I ] one of the many 'schwas'.02br
02br
00 (XSAMPA)02br
02br
00 CJ0-
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0 What's the difference between [ 6 ] and [ @ ]? The X-SAMPA site I looked at used 'mud' and 'arena' as the examples, and I don't hear a difference in the sounds, just a difference in stress.02br
02br
00 CJ0-
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1blockquote
01cite10CalifJim12cite10What's the difference between [ 6 ] and [ @ ]? The X-SAMPA site I looked at used 'mud' and 'arena' as the examples, and I don't hear a difference in the sounds, just a difference in stress.12br
12br
10 CJ12br
12br
12blockquote
10In some regions, though, they are
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