美式英语正音训练第59期:美音中的T

 　　Exercise 3-6:

　　Reading the Sound

　　When you read the following schwa paragraph, try clenching¹ your teeth the first time.

　　It won't sound completely natural, but it will get rid of all of the excess lip and jaw² movement and force your tongue to work harder than usual.

　　Remember that in speaking American English we don't move our lips much, and we talk though our teeth from far back in our throats.

　　I'm going to read with my teeth clenched³ together and you follow along, holding your teeth together.

　　What Must the Sun Above Wonder About?

　　Some pundits⁴ proposed that the sun wonders unnecessarily about sundry⁵ and assorted⁶ conundrums⁸.

　　One cannot but speculate what can come of their proposal.

　　It wasn't enough to trouble us,

　　but it was done so underhandedly that hundreds of sun lovers rushed to the defense⁹ of their beloved sun.

　　None of this was relevant on Monday, however, when the sun burned up the entire country.

　　Pause the CD and read What Must the Sun Above Wonder About? twice.

　　Try it once with your teeth clenched the first time and normally the second time.

　　Chapter 4. The American T

　　The American T is influenced very strongly by intonation¹⁰ and its position in a word or phrase.

　　At the top of a staircase T is pronounced T as in Ted⁷ or Italian;

　　a T in the middle of a staircase is pronounced as D [Beddy] [Idaly] ;

　　whereas a T at the bottom of a staircase isn't pronounced at all [ho(t)].

　　Look at Italian and Italy in the examples below.

　　The of Italian is at the top of the staircase and is strong: Italian.

　　The of Italy is in the middle and is weak: Italy.

　　Exercise 4-1:

　　Stressed and Unstressed T

　　Repeat after me.

　　Italian Italy

　　attack attic¹¹

　　atomic atom

　　photography photograph

　　Exercise 4-2:

　　Betty Bought a Bit of Better Butter

　　In the sentence Betty bought a bit of better butter, all of the Ts are in weak positions, so they all sound like soft Ds.

　　Repeat the sentence slowly, word by word:

　　[Beddy ... bad... bid... bedder ... budder].

　　Feel the tip of your tongue flick¹² across that area behind your top teeth.

　　Think of the music of a cello¹³ again when you say, Betty bought a bit of better butter.

　　Repeat.

　　Betty Bought a Bit of Better Butter

　　But, said she, This butter's bitter.

　　If I put it in my batter¹⁴, It'll make my batter bitter.

　　Exercise 4-3:

　　Rule 1—Top of the Staircase

　　When a T is at the top of a staircase, in a stressed position, it should be a clear popped sound.

　　1. In the beginning of a word, T is [t].

　　Ted took ten tomatoes.

　　2. With a stressed T and ST, TS, TR, CT, LT, and sometimes NT combinations, T is [t].

　　He was content with the contract.

　　3. T replaces D in the past tense, after an unvoiced consonant¹⁵ sound

　　f, k, p, s, ch, sh, th — (except T).

　　T: laughed , picked [pikt], hoped [houpt], raced [rast], watched , washed , unearthed¹⁶ [uneartht]

　　D: halved¹⁷ , rigged [rigd], nabbed , raised [razd], judged [j'jd], garaged [garazhd], smoothed [smoothd]

　　Exceptions: wicked , naked crooked¹⁸ etc.

　　Read the following sentences out loud.

　　Make sure that the underlined (stressed) Ts are sharp and clear.

　　1. It took Tim ten times to try the telephone.

　　2. Stop touching¹⁹ Ted's toes.

　　3. Turn toward Stella and study her contract together.

　　4. Control your tears.

　　5. It's Tommy's turn to tell the teacher the truth.

1 clenching   

v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I'll never get used to them, she thought, clenching her fists. 我永远也看不惯这些家伙，她握紧双拳，心里想。 来自飘（部分）
• Clenching her lips, she nodded. 她紧闭着嘴唇，点点头。 来自辞典例句

2 jaw   

n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训

参考例句：

• He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
• A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。

3 clenched   

v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He clenched his fists in anger. 他愤怒地攥紧了拳头。
• She clenched her hands in her lap to hide their trembling. 她攥紧双手放在腿上，以掩饰其颤抖。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 pundits   

n.某一学科的权威，专家( pundit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The pundits disagree on the best way of dealing with the problem. 如何妥善处理这一问题，专家众说纷纭。 来自辞典例句
• That did not stop Chinese pundits from making a fuss over it. 这并没有阻止中国的博学之士对此大惊小怪。 来自互联网

5 sundry   

adj.各式各样的，种种的

参考例句：

• This cream can be used to treat sundry minor injuries.这种药膏可用来治各种轻伤。
• We can see the rich man on sundry occasions.我们能在各种场合见到那个富豪。

6 assorted   

adj.各种各样的，各色俱备的

参考例句：

• There's a bag of assorted sweets on the table.桌子上有一袋什锦糖果。
• He has always assorted with men of his age.他总是与和他年令相仿的人交往。

7 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

8 conundrums   

n.谜，猜不透的难题，难答的问题( conundrum的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• After all the conundrums of Hungary, the second Turkish Grand Prix promises much. 继匈牙利站所有猜不透的事之后，第二届土耳其大奖赛许诺了太多。 来自互联网
• I see conundrums, dilemmas, quandaries, impasses, gnarly thickets of fateful possibility with no obvious way out. 眼看问题经纬万端，进退两难、入困境，死路一条，盘根错节的命定可能性，但找不到明显的出路。 来自互联网

9 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

10 intonation   

n.语调，声调；发声

参考例句：

• The teacher checks for pronunciation and intonation.老师在检查发音和语调。
• Questions are spoken with a rising intonation.疑问句是以升调说出来的。

11 attic   

n.顶楼，屋顶室

参考例句：

• Leakiness in the roof caused a damp attic.屋漏使顶楼潮湿。
• What's to be done with all this stuff in the attic?顶楼上的材料怎么处理？

12 flick   

n.快速的轻打，轻打声，弹开；v.轻弹，轻轻拂去，忽然摇动

参考例句：

• He gave a flick of the whip.他轻抽一下鞭子。
• By a flick of his whip,he drove the fly from the horse's head.他用鞭子轻抽了一下，将马头上的苍蝇驱走。

13 cello   

n.大提琴

参考例句：

• The cello is a member of the violin family.大提琴是提琴家族的一员。
• She plays a melodious cello.她拉着一手悦耳的大提琴。

14 batter   

v.接连重击；磨损；n.牛奶面糊；击球员

参考例句：

• The batter skied to the center fielder.击球手打出一个高飞球到中外野手。
• Put a small quantity of sugar into the batter.在面糊里放少量的糖。

15 consonant   

n.辅音；adj.[音]符合的

参考例句：

• The quality of this suit isn't quite consonant with its price.这套衣服的质量和价钱不相称。
• These are common consonant clusters at the beginning of words.这些单词的开头有相同辅音组合。

16 unearthed   

出土的（考古）

参考例句：

• Many unearthed cultural relics are set forth in the exhibition hall. 展览馆里陈列着许多出土文物。
• Some utensils were in a state of decay when they were unearthed. 有些器皿在出土时已经残破。

17 halved   

v.把…分成两半( halve的过去式和过去分词 )；把…减半；对分；平摊

参考例句：

• The shares have halved in value . 股价已经跌了一半。
• Overall operating profits halved to $24 million. 总的营业利润减少了一半，降至2，400 万元。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 crooked   

adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He crooked a finger to tell us to go over to him.他弯了弯手指，示意我们到他那儿去。
• You have to drive slowly on these crooked country roads.在这些弯弯曲曲的乡间小路上你得慢慢开车。

19 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。