What are the differences of these 2 pronunciations? (if any)

Question

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/skull

On that page, the pronunciations from those 2 words sound different to me.
One is from Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
And the other one is American Heritage Dictionary
Are there any difference or is it just my hearing problem?

Here is the clip: First 2 pronunciations are from Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) and the other 2 pronunciations is American Heritage Dictionary

http://impdesigner.com/skull_skull.mp3

Thanks in advance.

Kooyeen · Accepted Answer

Hi Yuki,
I don't think we should trust the prounciations given in dictionaries too much. If you listen to some clips from the American Heritage Dictionary, you can hear that the speaker doesn't even tap the t's!!! (listen to "matter"). What kind of American weirdo is that? LOL

Anyway, I listened to your clip, and it seems to me that the first vowel is a little too "open" (I don't know how to say that), and the second is a little too "closed". That is a schwa sound, and it can vary a lot... I'm going to open a thread about the schwa in a few days, I'm interested in how much it can vary.

L.Yuki · Answer

KooyeenHi Yuki,
I don't think we should trust the prounciations given in dictionaries too much. If you listen to some clips from the American Heritage Dictionary, you can hear that the speaker doesn't even tap the t's!!! (listen to "matter"). What kind of American weirdo is that? LOL

Anyway, I listened to your clip, and it seems to me that the first vowel is a little too "open" (I don't know how to say that), and the second is a little too "closed". That is a schwa sound, and it can vary a lot... I'm going to open a thread about the schwa in a few days, I'm interested in how much it can vary.

Arg @~@" Quite confusing. Generally I use the first one because sometimes the American Heritage Dictionary is quite hard to repeat the word at times. What do you even "tap" the t's?

So techinically, I can't trust either of those 2 pronunciations? T_T" Well for that word anyway.

Schwa.. hmm >.< heard it several times on the audio CD's, but never fully understand it since been working on vocabularies lately >.<"

Thanks.

Kooyeen · Answer

L.Yuki What do you even "tap" the t's?

Yep, I do. So "matter" sounds kind of like "madder".

I don't rely much on audio pronunciations in dictionaries, I usually just check the phonetic transcription.

L.Yuki · Answer

Kooyeen
L.Yuki What do you even "tap" the t's?

Yep, I do. So "matter" sounds kind of like "madder".
I don't rely much on audio pronunciations in dictionaries, I usually just check the phonetic transcription.

My bad, I didn't check my sentences before I hit "post".

I mean to ask "what do you mean "tap" the t's" not "even" ><!

I see what you mean now. I do recall from somewhere I read (arg, bad memories, dunno where I read it) about how sometimes the "t"s become "d"s or however they explain it T_T'

You can understand the pronunciations just from checking phonetic transcripts?.......................

What are the differences of these 2 pronunciations? (if any)

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions