"unite" and "unique"

Rick   Sat Aug 09, 2008 11:14 pm GMT
Do you pronounce them with [ju] or [j@] as the first syllable?
Lazar   Sat Aug 09, 2008 11:40 pm GMT
I pronounce them both with [ju].
Jim Dixon   Sat Aug 09, 2008 11:55 pm GMT
Both start with "yoo". I'm not sure what [@] represents, but I'm sure I don't have that.
Uriel   Sun Aug 10, 2008 6:02 pm GMT
I suppose in fast speech I might sometimes say "ya-nite" for unite, but I always say "yoo-neek" for unique.
greg   Mon Aug 11, 2008 9:10 am GMT
Question subsidiaire à nos amis anglophones : considérant le schéma accentuel identique pour les deux mots (syllabe finale → accentuée), marquez-vous l'allongement de la première syllabe ou pas ?

En clair, dites-vous :

/juːniːk/ (API) = /ju:ni:k/ (X-Sampa)
/juːnaɪ̯t/ (API) = /ju:naI_^t/ (X-Sampa) ;

ou bien :

/juniːk/ (API) = /juni:k/ (X-Sampa)
/junaɪ̯t/ (API) = /junaI_^t/ (X-Sampa) ?



D'après ce qu'Uriel disait, la prononciation [jənaɪ̯t] (API) = [j@naI_^t] (X-Sampa) est possible pour <unite>.
George   Mon Aug 11, 2008 10:12 am GMT
Greg,

I would say the first syllable is also long in both 'unique' and 'unite'. The last syllable is slightly longer and certainly more notably so when spoken quickly, but the first is still long on the absolute scale.
guest   Tue Aug 12, 2008 2:16 am GMT
I thought I pronounced both as /ju-/ until I actually said them in a sentence.

When consciously uttering both words, I definitely say /ju-/, but in actual speech, due to the lack of stress on the syllables, I end up saying /j@-/

interesting