Notes for /æ/
- aristocrat
The traditional British English pronunciation has the /æ/ vowel and stress on the first syllable). Probably because of the Disney film The Aristocats, the American English pronunciation (with /ə/ in the first syllable and stress on the second) is steadily growing in popularity. - arriviste
The Macmillan English Dictionary transcription has primary stress on the last syllable (as in French) and secondary stress on the first. But audio puts primary stress on the first. - barbaric
This sound is in the second syllable. See also under /ɑ:/. - Caribbean
A pronunciation with stress on the second syllable and initial /ə/ is becoming common. - garage
A pronunciation with stress on the second syllable, given by many dictionaries as American, is increasingly common in British English. - harakiri
The Macmillan English Dictionary transcription has this vowel but - as is commonly the case with foreign borrowings - a range of vowel sounds is possible (ranging from /ʌ/ to /ɑ:/ ). The Macmillan English Dictionary does have /æ/ , but has /i:/ in the second syllable (that is, the one written "ra"). - harassed and harassment
This - more readily than the bare infinitive - often has stress on the second syllable and /ə/ in the first. For more about this alternation, see this blog. - maraschino
Note that the Macmillan English Dictionary transcribes this (accurately, in an Italian word) with /k/, but the audio has /ʃ/ The Macmillan English Dictionary gives no transcription for the collocation "maraschino cherry", but again the audio sample has /ʃ/. This rogue /ʃ/ is not uncommon in other Italian borrowings – for example, bruschetta. - paragliding
This is the sole representative of the many sports that combine a parachute with another pursuit.
- Aryan
The Macmillan English Dictionary transcription has this vowel sound but the audio sample has /æ/. - barbarian
The second "ar" has this sound. See also /ɑ:/. - bridgeware
This evades the usual no-compounds rule (which excludes for example, chinaware) because it refers to an intangible sort of -ware. This is the sole representative of other such words (software, wetware, etc.) - carefree
This is the sole representative of words that use care (both as a prefix and as a suffix) - cheeseparing
Students of English for Speakers of Other Languages may want to note that the source of the verb is paring (a small amount cut off) and not sparing. - contrary and contrariwise
This pronunciation marks a particular usage. A more common meaning (but quite distinct) has primary stress on the first syllable, and /ə/. The Macmillan English Dictionary gives only the /eə/ pronunciation for the word "contrariwise", which might seem a little perverse (some might say contrary). But the Collins English Dictionary gives "contrariwise" with primary stress on the first syllable and /ə/ in the second; the /eə/ pronunciation (strictly speaking, following the phonemic scheme always used in that dictionary, /ɛə/) is also given – with the sense "in a contrary way" (but their link does not make it clear which sense they mean). The adverb is rare enough for this lack of clarity not to have a serious impact for the student. - harum-scarum
This pronunciation occurs in both words. - parliamentarian
This sound is in the third syllable from last. See also above, /ɑ:/. - prepared and preparedness
Students of English for Speakers of Other Languages should note that while the adjective has two syllables the abstract noun has four. - rarefied
Students of English for Speakers of Other Languages should note that, unlike many other words with the spelling "*are+<suffix>" (such as barely, daresay etc.), the written "e" represents a separate sound – /ɪ/. That is, the word has three syllables. - veterinarian
Note that although this word has six syllables (with the -ter- being fully enunciated the word veterinary (see under /ə/) may have either four or five (and sometimes even three: /vetənri:/).
- That is [the text has averred that /wᴐ:/ CAN be represented by "w|wh|qu+ar"] the condition is necessary, but not sufficient – there are several counterexamples: square, wary, quarry, warrant....
- lukewarm
This escapes the usual exclusion of compound words because the fossil "luke" that appears in it has no current life as a free-standing word. - toward and towards
Students of English for Speakers of Other Languages should note that, unlike all other words of the form <direction-or-destination>+"ward[s]" (for example backward, downward, forward, homeward, onward, upward, <compass-point>+"ward" or any other such word) this word has stress on the second syllable. Moreover, the first syllable, given by the Macmillan English Dictionary as /tə/, is sometimes heard as /tʊ/ and is sometimes dropped entirely. The Macmillan English Dictionary recognizes this reduced variant with a separate transcription and audio sample, but only for the first of the two words: /tɔ:(r)d/ but not /tɔ:(r)dz/. It's not clear to me whether this has any basis in observed fact; I don't believe I've heard a person say /tɔ:(r)dz/, but my SatNav says it, and I have no reason to believe that the voiceover artist who recorded it was being intentionally perverse.
- /ɒ/ – unwarranted
Rarely used in the positive, unless the context is negative: example - "His intrusion was not warranted". (Note that a negative context need not involve a negative particle; consider, for example, "Such heavy-handed intervention was hardly warranted.") - /ʌ/ – Bharat
This escapes the general exclusion of loanwords used primarily in a non-UK English-speaking country as it offers an occasion to show two things: that the Macmillan English Dictionary contains many such words, and that the pronunciation of such words is always problematic - the Macmillan English Dictionary's transcription has this vowel but the audio example has /ɑ:/. - Null (no sound) – secretary
The Macmillan English Dictionary gives this three-syllable version as British English, and the American English version (with primary stress on the *AR* syllable) having the sound /e/. (In many other cases, a null pronunciation of an *AR* syllable is given as an alternative to /ə/, but this is the only case I have found where no /ə/ option is given). The four-syllable version is becoming common in British English; indeed, many speakers of British English regard the three-syllable version as quaint and/or amusingly old-fashioned.
No comments:
Post a Comment